Effect of Choline on Production of Experimental Atherosclerosis in Rabbits

Abstract

Summary and Conclusions 1. The oral administration of 0.5 gm. of choline daily to 19 rabbits fed 1 gm. of cholesterol 3 times weekly did not prevent the development of a hypercholesterolemia comparable to that produced in 19 control animals fed cholesterol alone. 2. Ten of the choline-fed rabbits killed at intervals between the 40th and 80th days failed to show macroscopic atheromata in the aorta. Ten of the 11 control rabbits fed the same amounts of cholesterol and sacrificed at similar periods showed gross atherosclerosis. 3. After 80 days the macroscopic lesions of the aorta were similar in both groups. 4. It is concluded that choline delays but does not prevent atherosclerosis in cholesterol-fed rabbits.