250 million people worldwide (>1 million Australians) have leg artery blockage (peripheral artery disease; PAD). Most commonly, PAD causes: a) leg pain on walking which limits daily function and reduces quality of life; and/ or b) ischemic ulceration which is associated with a high risk of major amputation.
There are currently no drug therapies for these clinical presentations of PAD. The only widely available PAD treatment is surgery to improve leg blood supply (revascularisation) but this has limited effectiveness and can promote major amputation. Past efforts to develop PAD drugs have been hindered by the lack of clinically-relevant animal models. We have developed mouse models that accurately simulate the two main clinical presentations of PAD. Based on our extensive preliminary research, this project uses these models to test a promising drug therapy. This study has real potential to both discover a clinically beneficial drug and to further validate valuable laboratory models.
Last updated17 January 2023