The aim of the study is to provide a reliable exercise test for pigs that can be used to evaluate the safety and functional efficacy of gene therapy and other novel therapies. Usually, cardiovascular animal studies emphasize easily quantifiable endpoints just as capillary area calculated from the histological sections. In contrast, clinical studies use more subjective endpoints such as excess tolerance.
This protocol better matches the endpoints between pre-clinical and clinical studies. The previously published methods with longer running sessions aim to evaluate chronic exercise adaptations, whereas the presented method is more suitable for evaluating cardio respiratory fitness.
