Cerebral atherosclerosis in Japanese

1. (1) The cerebral arteries of 374 Japanese subjects were estimated for total lipids, free and ester cholesterol, lipid phosphorus, triglycerides and various types of glycosaminoglycans. The cerebral arteries were divided into normal and diseased. The samples were pooled for each decade, in an endeavour to dissociate age changes from those related to atherosclerosis. 2. (2) In general, lipid concentration increased with age and atherosclerosis. The ratio, ester/total cholesterol, in normal tissue was approximately 25–30%, in contrast with 45–50% in the lesions. Atherosclerotic lesions contained approximately 13 to 35 times as much esterified cholesterol as young normal tissue. The rise with age in total and esterified cholesterol in the Japanese cerebral arteries was much the same or just slightly steeper than that reported in South African and American Caucasians. 3. (3) Total glycosaminoglycans increased in both normal tissue and lesions. The proportion and concentration of heparan sulphate decreased in atherosclerosic lesions compared with grossly normal tissue; yet those of chondroitin-4- or -6-sulphate and dermatan sulphate increased. The relative proportions of glycosaminoglycans in normal tissues did not alter with age. 4. (4) Quantitative chemical analysis confirmed the low proportion of both hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulphates in the total glycosaminoglycans of Japanese cerebral arteries.