Ito T, Shiomi M
Institute for Experimental Animals, Kobe University School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
Atherosclerosis. 2001 May;156(1):57-66. doi: 10.1016/s0021-9150(00)00622-5.
We demonstrated that selectively bred homozygous WHHL rabbits known to show hypercholesterolemia and severe coronary atherosclerosis also spontaneously develop cerebral atherosclerosis beginning at 9 months of age. These intracranial lesions occurred in the absence of hypertension in 24 of 25 animals at various sites, mainly along arteries at the base of the brain. No lesions were observed in penetrating arteries. Lesions were rich in smooth muscle cells and fibrous tissue, showing only rare fragmentation or disappearance of the internal elastic lamina, and only limited lipid deposition. Few macrophages were observed in these lesions. No significant correlation was seen between severity of cerebral atherosclerosis and age, systolic blood pressure (BP), serum total cholesterol, or triglyceride concentration. Xanthomas of the pia mater were observed in all 25 rabbits. Arterial findings were similar to those in human cerebral atherosclerosis, indicating that the coronary atherosclerosis-prone homozygous WHHL rabbit represents the first animal model for spontaneous cerebral atherosclerosis.
我们证明，已知表现出高胆固醇血症和严重冠状动脉粥样硬化的选择性繁殖纯合WHHL兔，从9个月大开始也会自发发展为脑动脉粥样硬化。这些颅内病变在25只动物中的24只中发生于无高血压的情况下，位于各个部位，主要沿着脑底部的动脉。在穿通动脉中未观察到病变。病变富含平滑肌细胞和纤维组织，仅偶尔出现内弹性膜断裂或消失，且脂质沉积有限。在这些病变中观察到的巨噬细胞很少。脑动脉粥样硬化的严重程度与年龄、收缩压（BP）、血清总胆固醇或甘油三酯浓度之间未见显著相关性。在所有25只兔子中均观察到软脑膜黄瘤。动脉病变与人类脑动脉粥样硬化相似，表明易患冠状动脉粥样硬化的纯合WHHL兔代表了首个自发性脑动脉粥样硬化动物模型。
