抄録
The relation among circulating monocytes, serum cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in manifestation of atherosclerosis was investigated in hypercholesterolemic rabbits. Serum cholesterol increased sharply and reached a plateau at 12 weeks after the start of cholesterol diet feeding; LDL cholesterol gradually increased until 24 weeks, and the number of monocytes in blood started to decrease abruptly around 12 weeks and resulted in less than 1% total white blood cells at 24 weeks, as reflected by a severe progression of atheroma formation. This result indicated that the decrement of monocyte number in blood was predictive of the presence of severe atherosclerotic plaques.
