Atherosclerotic changes in the aortic wall in lower monkeys

Abstract

Atherosclerotic changes in the walls of arterial vessels are currently considered as one of the initial stages in the development of a number of diseases of the cardiovascular system. According to the World Health Organization, atherosclerosis is the main cause of heart attack and stroke. The similarity of pathomorphological changes in atherosclerosis in humans and in lower monkeys of the baboon hamadryad and baboon anubis species allows the use of animals of these species as laboratory models in the study of this disease. The material for morphological studies was obtained during the autopsy of 109 corpses of baboon hamadryad and baboon anubis monkeys (53 males and 56 females) in the period from 2019 to 2022. To analyze the species and age characteristics, all animals were conditionally divided into three age groups: group 1 (n=74) monkeys of both sexes aged 15-20 years; group 2 (n=23) animals of both sexes aged 21-25 years; group 3 (n=12) included animals older than 26 years. The results of the research showed that atherosclerotic changes in the aortic wall in the lower monkeys of the studied species kept in the nursery of the Kurchatov Complex of Medical Primatology of the Kurchatov Institute Research Center are detected from the age of 15. As the age of the animals increases, the changes are more pronounced. A reliable relationship between different age groups has been established. The frequency of atherosclerotic changes increases with increasing age, regardless of the sex of the animals. Morphological changes in the wall of the thoracic aorta in baboons are similar to those in human atherosclerosis.