Intimal alterations in rabbit aortas during the first 6 months of alloxan-induced diabetes.
- 1 May 1991
- journal article
- abstracts
- Published by Wolters Kluwer Health in Arteriosclerosis and Thrombosis: A Journal of Vascular Biology
- Vol. 11 (3), 517-529
- https://doi.org/10.1161/01.atv.11.3.517
Abstract
Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. Since endothelial alteration is probably associated with the development of atherosclerosis, we questioned whether morphological evidence of endothelial injury could be observed during the first 6 months of diabetes induced by a single intravenous injection of alloxan in normally fed rabbits compared with age-matched controls. Diabetes (plasma glucose greater than 16 mM) was established by 5 days after alloxan injection. Endothelial alterations consistent with injury, including adhesion of white blood cells, platelets, and fibrin-like material to the endothelial surface, were seen in diabetic rabbit aortas by 2 weeks. These alterations became more severe during the next 6 months. Increased endothelial replication in diabetic vessels was shown by the uptake of tritium-labeled thymidine at 2 weeks and at 3 and 6 months. Hyperplasia of intimal smooth muscle cells progressed during 3 months after treatment. About one third of the diabetic rabbits also showed an elevated plasma cholesterol level, which correlated with increased intimal proliferation but not with endothelial injury or replication. The onset of alloxan-induced diabetes in rabbits is associated with nondenuding endothelial injury and subsequent intimal hypertrophy, changes that are consistent with atherogenesis.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- Preservation and structural adaptation of endothelium over experimental foam cell lesions. Quantitative ultrastructural study.Arteriosclerosis: An Official Journal of the American Heart Association, Inc., 1989
- Reduced atherogenesis in cholesterol-fed diabetic rabbits. Giant lipoproteins do not enter the arterial wall.Arteriosclerosis: An Official Journal of the American Heart Association, Inc., 1988
- Proteoglycan distribution in the intima and media of the aortas of young and aging rabbits: an ultrastructural studyAtherosclerosis, 1988
- Pathogenesis of atherosclerosisMetabolism, 1985
- Scanning electron microscopy of normal rabbit aorta: Injury or artifact?Journal of Ultrastructure Research, 1985
- Studies of hypercholesterolemia in the nonhuman primate. I. Changes that lead to fatty streak formation.Arteriosclerosis: An Official Journal of the American Heart Association, Inc., 1984
- Increased Adhesion of Erythrocytes to Endothelial Cells in Diabetes Mellitus and Its Relation to Vascular ComplicationsNew England Journal of Medicine, 1981
- Vascular wall growth control: the role of the endothelium.Arteriosclerosis: An Official Journal of the American Heart Association, Inc., 1981
- A simple rapid method for the preparation of en face endothelial (Häutchen) monolayers from rat and rabbit aortasAtherosclerosis, 1980
- ROLE OF LYSOSOMES IN VASCULAR DISEASE: A UNIFYING THEMEAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1976