The NHLBI-Sponsored Consortium for preclinicAl assESsment of cARdioprotective Therapies (CAESAR)

Rationale:Despite 4 decades of intense effort and substantial financial investment, the cardioprotection field has failed to deliver a single drug that effectively reduces myocardial infarct size in patients. A major reason is insufficient rigor and reproducibility in preclinical studies. Objective:To develop a multicenter, randomized, controlled, clinical trial-like infrastructure to conduct rigorous and reproducible preclinical evaluation of cardioprotective therapies. Methods and Results:With support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, we established the Consortium for preclinicAl assESsment of cARdioprotective therapies (CAESAR), based on the principles of randomization, investigator blinding, a priori sample size determination and exclusion criteria, appropriate statistical analyses, and assessment of reproducibility. To validate CAESAR, we tested the ability of ischemic preconditioning to reduce infarct size in 3 species (at 2 sites/species): mice (n=22–25 per group), rabbits (n=11–1...