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Review
. 2025 Jul 10:13:100476.
doi: 10.1016/j.jmccpl.2025.100476. eCollection 2025 Sep.

Current status and challenges of multi-omics research using animal models of atherosclerosis

Tijana Mitić  1 , Adriana Georgescu  2 , Nicoleta Alexandru-Moise  2 , Michael J Davies  3 , Cecile Vindis  4 , Susana Novella  5 , Eva Gerdts  6 , Georgios Kararigas  7 , Stephanie Bezzina Wettinger  8 , Melissa M Formosa  8 , Brenda R Kwak  9 , Filippo Molica  9 , Nuria Amigo  10   11   12 , Andrea Caporali  1 , Fernando de la Cuesta  13   14 , Ignacio Fernando Hall  1 , Angeliki Chroni  15 , Fabio Martelli  16 , Johannes A Schmid  17 , Paolo Magni  18   19 , Dimitris Kardassis  19   20   21 ; COST Action AtheroNET (CA21153)
Affiliations
Review

Current status and challenges of multi-omics research using animal models of atherosclerosis

Tijana Mitić et al. J Mol Cell Cardiol Plus. .

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is an underlying cause of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) which account for most deaths worldwide. Use of diverse preclinical models of atherosclerosis has been implemental in understanding the underlying mechanisms, the implicated cell types, the genes and the molecules at play in the onset and progression of atherosclerotic plaques. Although significant research advancements have been made, further research is necessary to delve into factors influencing plaque types, site preference within the vasculature, interactions with adjacent tissues (liver, pancreas and perivascular adipose tissue), inflammation and sex-based disparities, among others. The conventional low throughput methodologies which concentrate on individual cells, genes or metabolites are inadequate to tackle the complex and heterogeneous nature of atherosclerosis. With recent advancement in multi-omics and bioinformatics, research approaches have illuminated a clearer understanding of atherosclerosis. Consequently, these advancements pave the path to design novel therapeutics to complement currently approved lipid-lowering and other effective treatments. In this article, we summarize and critically evaluate the findings derived from recent high throughput single- or multi-omic studies conducted in animal models of atherosclerosis. We also delve into the challenges associated with using experimental animals to model human atherosclerosis and contemplate the essential enhancements needed to better mimic human conditions. We further discuss the requirement of establishing a structured multi-omic database for atherosclerosis research, enabling broader access and utilisation within the scientific community.

Keywords: Animal models; Artificial intelligence; AtheroNET; Atherosclerosis; Cardiovascular diseases; Lipidomics; Machine learning; Metabolomics; Proteomics; Transcriptomics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Animal models used for atherosclerosis research and applications (created with BioRender).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Most common animal models used in atherosclerosis research: advantages and limitations.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Application of multi-omics for enhancing the use of animal models in atherosclerosis (created with BioRender).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Prospects for the application of multi-omics to atherosclerosis research (created with BioRender).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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