Models of renovascular disease

Renal artery stenosis, often associated with multiple atherosclerotic risk factors, is a common cause of secondary hypertension, exacerbates cardiovascular disease, and leads to chronic renal failure. Therefore, it is critically important to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for disease progression and develop effective therapeutic strategies to treat these patients. Animal models have been extensively used as an experimental platform to mimic many features of human renovascular disease, and provide valuable information to probe its pathophysiology and downstream kidney injury. This chapter summarizes different methods used to develop and evaluate animal models of renovascular disease, often applying the Goldblatt two-kidney one-clip hypertension (2K1C) model in murine to large animal models, such as swine and canine. Finally, this chapter will examine different methods to monitor pathophysiological changes in renovascular hypertensive animal models and the use of therapeutic interventions, such as renal revascularization.