Effect of Human Sera on DNA Synthesis in Aortic Explants

Abstract

In a previous study presented at the Third International Symposium on Atherosclerosis, we reported that the growth of swine aortic medial expiants in the presence of human serum appeared analogous to that resulting from medium containing swine serum. The peripheral growth formed in cultures in the presence of human serum was qualitatively indistinguishable by light and electron microscopy from that resulting from cultures with swine serum in the medium (Daoud et al., 1973; Daoud, 1974). In addition, the peripheral growth resulting from either type of serum had many of the characteristics of the early atherosclerotic lesions, among them cell proliferation and cell necrosis, which are two important components of the lesion. In both types of culture, the cellular component of the peripheral growth was smooth muscle cells which secreted collagen, elastic tissue, and glycosaminoglycans. While qualitatively similar, quantitative differences between the two types of cultures were observed. These are: 1. Human sera resulted in more copious peripheral growth in most instances than the normal swine serum.