[Inhibitory effect of metformin on the development of cholesterol atherosclerosis in the rabbit. Observations on the coronary vessels].

Experimental atherosclerosis and atheroregression may appear at different levels of development in the different arterial districts of non-human primates. The coronary arteries that are involved, like aortas, in the atherogenic process are, in the monkeys, less prone to atheroregression. The atherosclerotic lesions which are always present in the coronary arteries of the hypercholesterolemic rabbits are not evident in the coronaries (at extra- as well at intracardiac level) of the hypercholesterolemic rabbits treated with metformin.