1. Hypercholesterolemia causes mechanical weakening of rabbit atheroma : local collagen loss as a prerequisite of plaque rupture
- Author
-
David W. Brammer, Jing Chen, Paul J. Kuipers, Mark D. Rekhter, Gary W. Hicks, Michael J. Ryan, Hussein Hallak, Maureen K. Anderson, Wendy S. Rosebury, and Erick Kindt
- Subjects
Pathology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Physiology ,Arteriosclerosis ,Hypercholesterolemia ,Biology ,Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ,Hydroxyproline ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,medicine ,Pressure ,Animals ,Zymography ,Tissue Distribution ,Sirius Red ,Cholesterol ,Anatomy ,medicine.disease ,Lipids ,Matrix Metalloproteinases ,Atheroma ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,chemistry ,Collagen ,Rabbits ,Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ,Blood vessel ,Artery - Abstract
Abstract —Hypercholesterolemia may render atherosclerotic plaques prone to rupture. To test this hypothesis, catheters with matrix-covered balloons were implanted into the aorta of rabbits fed standard or 0.5% cholesterol chow (n=70). In 1 month, fibrous plaques developed around the balloon. Time-dependent accumulation of cholesteryl esters and free cholesterol was detected in the plaques of the cholesterol-fed group only. The pressure needed to rupture the plaque by balloon inflation was used as an index of plaque strength. Three months after the catheter implantation, the breaking pressure was 2.1 times lower ( P
- Published
- 2000