Mode of cholesterol accumulation in various tissues of rabbits with moderate hyercholesteremia.

Abstract

SummaryA moderate hypercholesteremia (300 to 400 mg/100 ml) was induced and maintained in a group of New Zealand white rabbits. The animals were killed weekly up to 12 weeks and cholesterol contents of 15 tissues were determined. Muscle, fat, pancreases, and brain showed no increase of their cholesterol contents. Small increases were noted in testis, colon, and heart, but these were not related to time. Linear arithmetic increases of tissue cholesterol contents were found in adrenal, kidney, small intestine, and lung while aorta, liver, spleen, and skin exhibited an exponential accumulation of cholesterol over a 3-month period of moderate hypercholesteremia. The rapid and avid uptake of cholesterol by aorta may play a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.