β-Aminopropionitrileと高コレステロール食投与によるラット大動脈コレステロールと酸性ムコ多糖体の変動

Abstract

The concentration and composition of acidic glycosaminoglycans in rat aorta were examined using ion-exchange chromatography and chondroitinase method. The glycosaminoglycans from aorta of normal rats were identified chemically and these, in increasing order of concentration, were heparan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate B, chondroitin sulfate A, chondroitin sulfate C, and hyaluronic acid. Analysis of the glycosaminoglycan composition of aorta from young lathyritic rats revealed a marked increase in chondroitin sulfate, chondroitin sulfate B in particular, but essentially no change in other glycosaminoglycan components of the arterial wall except a decrease of heparan sulfate in the 4 week-treatment group. The relationship between the concentration and composition of acidic glycosaminoglycans and aortic cholesterol deposition was also examined. The concentration of aortic cholesterol in the three groups β-aminopropionitrile (βAPN, βAPN-high cholesterol, and high cholesterol groups) increased significantly compared to that of normal rats after 2 weeks of feeding, but the concentration of aortic cholesterol continued to show a significant increase only in lathyritic rats fed a high-cholesterol diet for 4 weeks. However, the accumulation of cholesterol in the aorta was not very striking. On the other hand, the concentration of glycosaminoglycans in lathyritic rats fed a high-cho1esterol diet showed a marked increase in heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate, having preventive effect for atherosclerosis. This finding would suggest that aortic glycosaminoglycans are preventive factors in the successive progress of atherosclerosis rather than factors responsible for initiation of atherosclerosis through their interaction with cholesterol.