M T H M Henkens1,2,3, J F van Ast4, A S J M Te Riele4,5, A C Houweling6, A S Amin7, R Nijveldt8, M L Antoni9, X Li10, S M T Wehrens11, J H von der Thüsen12,13, K Damman14, E N Ter Horst15, O C Manintveld16, R Y Abma-Schouten17, H W M Niessen18, H H W Silljé14, J W Jukema4,9, P A Doevendans4,5. 1. Netherlands Heart Institute (NLHI), Utrecht, The Netherlands. michiel.henkens@heart-institute.nl. 2. Department of Pathology, CARIM, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands. michiel.henkens@heart-institute.nl. 3. Department of Cardiology, CARIM, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands. michiel.henkens@heart-institute.nl. 4. Netherlands Heart Institute (NLHI), Utrecht, The Netherlands. 5. Department of Cardiology, Division of Heart and Lungs, University Medical Centre Utrecht, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. 6. Department of Clinical Genetics, Amsterdam UMC (location VUmc), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 7. Department of Clinical and Experimental Cardiology, Heart Failure Research Centre, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 8. Department of Cardiology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. 9. Department of Cardiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands. 10. Department of Pathology, CARIM, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands. 11. Netherlands Brain Bank, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 12. Erasmus MC Transplant Institute, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 13. Department of Pathology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 14. Department of Cardiology, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. 15. PLN Heart Foundation, Middenmeer, The Netherlands. 16. Department of Cardiology, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 17. Dutch Heart Foundation, Den Haag, The Netherlands. 18. Department of Pathology and Cardiac Surgery, Amsterdam UMC, location AMC and VUmc, ACS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract
AIM: Cardiac diseases remain a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) related hospitalisation and mortality. That is why research to improve our understanding of pathophysiological processes underlying cardiac diseases is of great importance. There is a strong need for healthy and diseased human cardiac tissue and related clinical data to accomplish this, since currently used animal and in vitro disease models do not fully grasp the pathophysiological processes observed in humans. This design paper describes the initiative of the Netherlands Heart Tissue Bank (NHTB) that aims to boost CVD-related research by providing an open-access biobank. METHODS: The NHTB, founded in June 2020, is a non-profit biobank that collects and stores biomaterial (including but not limited to myocardial tissue and blood samples) and clinical data of individuals with and without previously known cardiac diseases. All individuals aged ≥ 18 years living in the Netherlands are eligible for inclusion as a potential future donor. The stored samples and clinical data will be available upon request for cardiovascular researchers. CONCLUSION: To improve the availability of cardiac tissue for cardiovascular research, the NHTB will include extensive (cardiac) biosamples, medical images, and clinical data of donors with and without a previously known cardiac disease. As such, the NHTB will function as a translational bridge to boost a wide range of cardiac disease-related fundamental and translational studies.
AIM: Cardiac diseases remain a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) related hospitalisation and mortality. That is why research to improve our understanding of pathophysiological processes underlying cardiac diseases is of great importance. There is a strong need for healthy and diseased human cardiac tissue and related clinical data to accomplish this, since currently used animal and in vitro disease models do not fully grasp the pathophysiological processes observed in humans. This design paper describes the initiative of the Netherlands Heart Tissue Bank (NHTB) that aims to boost CVD-related research by providing an open-access biobank. METHODS: The NHTB, founded in June 2020, is a non-profit biobank that collects and stores biomaterial (including but not limited to myocardial tissue and blood samples) and clinical data of individuals with and without previously known cardiac diseases. All individuals aged ≥ 18 years living in the Netherlands are eligible for inclusion as a potential future donor. The stored samples and clinical data will be available upon request for cardiovascular researchers. CONCLUSION: To improve the availability of cardiac tissue for cardiovascular research, the NHTB will include extensive (cardiac) biosamples, medical images, and clinical data of donors with and without a previously known cardiac disease. As such, the NHTB will function as a translational bridge to boost a wide range of cardiac disease-related fundamental and translational studies.