Table 2.

Genetic porcine models available for the atherosclerosis research

Model type	Advantages	Disadvantages	Utility	References
Tg D374Y-PCSK9 minipigs	Develop moderate hypercholesterolemia and human-like atherosclerosis on the standard low-fat diet	The high-fat diet required to develop severe hypercholesterolemia and advanced atherosclerosis	Useful for testing different imaging techniques from 12 months of age.	[12,122,130-132]
	Acquire reduced hepatic LDLR levels	Multiple expression of the mutant transgene may limit the utility for treatments designed to increase LDLR expression or reduce PCSK9 activity
	Impaired LDL clearance
LDLR-/- minipigs	Develop advanced human-like atherosclerosis, including coronary lesions	The high-fat diet required	Suitable for coronary atherosclerosis research, development of plaque stabilization drugs and percutaneous diagnostic and interventional devices	[130,133,148]
ApoE-/- minipigs	Develop moderate cholesterolemia and atherosclerosis on the low-fat diet	The high-fat diet required to develop prominent human-like dyslipidemia and progressive atherosclerosis	Suitable for translational studies of atherosclerosis	[136,137]
ApoE /LDLR double KO minipigs	Develop atherosclerosis-related lipid metabolism	Validation of atherosclerosis phenotype is limited possibly due to the fact that in-frame mutations in both the ApoE and LDLR alleles may give rise to truncated ApoE and LDLR proteins with the partially retained function	Useful for studies determining the function of genes involved in the progression of human atherosclerosis	[138]

Note: Tg D374Y-PCSK9 minipigs - Transgenic D374Y-PCSK9 minipigs; LDLR - low-density lipoprotein receptor; LDL - low-density lipoprotein; LDLR-/- - low-density lipoprotein receptor deficient; ApoE-/- - apolipoprotein E deficient; ApoE/LDLR double KO minipigs - apolipoprotein E and low-density lipoprotein receptor double knockout minipigs.