High density lipoproteins and prevention of experimental atherosclerosis with special reference to tree shrews.

According to data obtained from epidemiological and experimental survey, serum HDL level is known to be correlated conversely with the incidence of atherosclerosis. Experimental data collected in this article explained part of its mechanism, which is described in four parts as follows: 1. The result of 3 successive experiments on experimental atherosclerosis in tree shrews (total of 96 animals available including 40 as the controls) showed that the serum HDL level had been kept persistantly to 69-88% of the total serum lipoproteins even after a high cholesterol intake for 32 weeks. The incidence of atheromatous lesions developed was only 0-9%, but the incidence of gall stone was very high, 48-84% by gross examination by the end of these experiments. 2. HDL are also capable of (1) promotion of monocyte migration activity; (2) enhancement of cholesterol clearance rate of aortic smooth muscle cells originally isolated from either rabbits or tree shrews; (3) inhibition of 20% of LDL degradation but with no inhibitory effect obtained on Ac-LDL degradation in the endothelial cells; (4) presence of specific binding sites for apo E free HDL on the surface of aortic smooth muscle cells from either rabbits or tree shrews which recognizes apo A1 as a ligand. 3. Data from 2 successive experiments in rabbits showed that HDL lipoproteins (mainly apo A1) possess an inhibitory effect on the development of atheromatous plaques, but not a very strong one. 4. The colesterol clearance effect of smooth muscle cells was markedly enhanced by apo A1/phospholipid liposomes (the apo A1 used was isolated from either rabbit's or tree shrew's serum) in vitro.