Abstract 13262: Improved Rabbit Model of Calcific Aortic Valve Disease Induces Severe Medial Calcification and Stenosis Equivalent to Human Disease
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Introduction: Accurate animal models of calcific aortic valve stenosis (CAVS) are needed to get insights into the early stages. We had previously modified a rabbit model to achieve CAVS. Here, we sought to assess its ability to produce similar lesion to humans. Methods: New Zealand rabbits were randomized to normal diet or +1% cholesterol + 3500 I.U.s/kg Vitamin D2 daily. Aortic valve area was assessed with echocardiography. At 7 weeks, blood serum and valve cusps were retrieved from sacrificed animals. Valve cusps were ex-vivo imaged with 18F-NaF microPET/CT, snap-frozen or formalin-fixed. Cusps were homogenized with an optimized protocol. Pyrophosphate (PPi) was measured in serum and cusps, metabolites analyzed with LC-MS/MS. Phosphatase activity was detected with BCIP/NBT assay. Protein content was analyzed with immunohistochemistry, quantitative ELISA and proteomics analysis (LC-MS/MS), and compared to human databases. Fixed cusps were analyzed using FT-IR and imaged with atomic force, scanning and transmission electron microscope. EDX chemical maps were obtained from the regions of interest Results: Vitamin D and metabolites were validated in serum and tissue. Echocardiography confirmed significant valve stenosis. Sodium fluoride activity was quadrupled in experimental valves. Histology revealed severe medial calcification, positive for osteopontin, negative for TNAP, BSPII and osteocalcin. Endogenous phosphatase activity colocalized with calcification in the medium. Serum PPi levels were increased, and tissue PPi levels were decreased. Proteomics analysis revealed 96 differentially expressed proteins validating important proteins, including apolipoproteins, complement, osteonectin, matrix Gl(a), galectin-3, fetuin-A, sortiltin, and TGF-b axis proteins. Ultrastructural analysis revealed the pathognomonic calcified spherical particles composed predominantly of phosphorus in the experimental valves. Conclusions: The improved high-fat - vitamin D toxicity rabbit model produced severe phosphate-induced CAVS, with similar protein and ultrastructural content to human disease, related to TGF-b pathway. Further investigations are needed in the underlying molecular networks driving the lesion.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.002 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".