LAUSR

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a serious complication of preterm delivery and low birthweight infants. The incidence of BPD has not decreased, and there is no effective treatment for the disease. Since the survival rate of premature infants has increased, it has become difficult to obtain pathological tissue samples from BPD death cases. There is also no in vitro experimental system for complex three‐dimensional structures, such as alveolarization and pulmonary angiogenesis; thus, the use of animal models is necessary to elucidate the pathology of BPD and develop new treatments. To date, BPD animal models were being developed by exposing immature animal lungs to various stimuli. In the present review, I summarize BPD animal models that use (i) highly concentrated oxygen, (ii) mechanical ventilation, and (iii) infection/inflammation. In addition, with mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy for BPD as an example, I will discuss the expectations for new treatments that would be applied from animal models to humans.