an ovine model of dilated cardiomyopathy induced by doxorubicin

background: dilated cardiomyopathy is associated with a progressive deterioration in cardiac function and eventually death. initial interest in this hypothesis was to create another large animal model for dilated cardiomyopathy in addition to pigs and dogs . methods: after the induction of anesthesia to 10 female sheep, a carotid-jugular shunt was created in all the animals via a 1-cm fistula between the carotid artery and jugular vein. six sheep out of the total of 10, were given intravenous doxorubicin. echocardiographic studies were performed before surgery and 3 months after that. the 4 animals not injected with doxorubicin were evaluated for echocardiographic parameters after one year . results: there was no abnormality in echo parameters in the 4 sheep that had not received doxorubicin; in addition, their valves and cardiac output were normal. as regards the six sheep injected with doxorubicin, 4 received a dose of 2 mg/kg weekly and expired after the second injection due to the toxicity of the drug, 1 was given doxorubicin 1 mg/kg and died after one week, and 1 had doxorubicin 0.5 mg/kg but showed no abnormality in terms of dilated cardiomyopathy . conclusion: we conclude that the sheep is sensitive to doxorubicin and that the dosage that is enough for creating dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs is very toxic for the sheep.