DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY IN TURKEYS - AN ANIMAL-MODEL FOR THE STUDY OF HUMAN HEART-FAILURE

Many animal models of heart failure developed to date do not mimic pat hophysiologic changes recently described in the failing human myocardi um. In human endstage heart failure, abnormalities in morphology, elec tromechanical coupling, and myocardial energetics have been described. However, studies of human myocardium are limited by lack of appropria te controls, the fact that all patients have endstage heart failure, a nd exposure of patients to different therapeutic regimens. In contrast to many animal models, the myopathic turkey heart (i.e., idiopathic d ilated cardiomyopathy or furazolidone-induced cardiomyopathy) is simil ar to the myopathic human heart in terms of gross morphology, myocardi al energetics, muscle physiology myofilament properties, Ca2+ metaboli sm and the beta-receptor-adenylyl cyclase signaling system.