In the present study, the left anterior descending coronary arteries of mice under anesthesia were ligated, and the optimal surgical conditions for coronary artery ligation (CAL) in the establishment of a myocardial infarction (MI) mouse model were investigated. All mice that survived were sacrificed seven days subsequent to the successful surgery. Body weight, blood serum and heart tissues were obtained for further analysis or biochemical and histopathological examinations. The survival rate of the mice following the CAL procedure was 70%. The aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentrations in the serum of the experimental mice were significantly increased compared with those of the control mice, which reflected the enzyme release from the infarcted myocardial cells. Histopathological examination showed different degrees of MI in the heart tissues of the experimental mice. The results indicate that an MI model in mice may be successfully established using CAL under the surgical conditions utilized in the present study. These conditions were cost effective and the results may be replicated by laboratories that are less well-equipped.
Keywords: biochemistry; coronary artery ligation; histopathology; mice; myocardial infarction; surgical conditions.