Abstract
Rats tend to be resistant to atherosclerosis. Therefore it is rather more difficult to experimentally induce atherosclerosis in rats than in rabbits, pigs, monkeys or birds. We tried to experimentally induce atherosclerotic lesions in rat arteries over a short period. A 2-French balloon catheter was introduced into the rat's left carotid arteries from the iliac arteries and the endothelium was denuded. An atherogenic diet (2% Cholesterol, 0.4% Cholic-Na, 5% Lard, and 0.2% Propyltlziouracil) was provided for 14 days. After fasting overnight, the rats were sacrificed. Samples of the carotid arteries were taken for light and electron microscopy and the rest of the arteries were used to extract cholesterol and the DNA for a quantitative determination. We found that atherosclerotic lesions had formed in the carotid arteries of every examined rat. The induced atherosclerotic lesions significantly resembled human atherosclerosis from the following point of view; 1) observation of intense intimal thickening with a cholesteryl ester accumulation and, 2) the appearance of foam cells laded with lipids.
