Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Animal Model

Twelve male Sprague-Dawley rats (220–320 g) were used in this study (n = 6 per group). Monocrotaline was injected intraperitoneally at a dose of 60 mg/kg on day 1 of the experiment. Six control animals were injected intraperitoneally with normal saline. The animals were housed at the Animal Care Facility of Shandong University until day 14 of the experiment at an ambient temperature of 22°C with a 12-h light/dark cycle. All animals received standard rodent food and water ad libitum. The experimental protocol was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee for Experimental Animals of Shandong University (number ECAESDUSM 2012029).