大動脈エラスチンおよびエラスチン結合脂質

Abstract

In order to understand the relationship between elastin and atherosclerosis the investigation was undertaken using aorta by measuring amounts of aortic elastin, amino acid analysis of extracted elastin, and elastin binding lipids. Hog aortic elastin was extracted using for several kinds of methods (collagenase, cyanogen bromide (BrCN), NaOH and formic acid methods), and it was considered that the most purified elastin could be obtained by the BrCN method according to the amino acid analysis. The contents of elastin binding lipids showed different levels in each method. In BrCN method the ratio of cholesterol ester and phospholipids were the highest, while the total amounts of lipid levels were the lowest among the four methods. In the analysis of human aorta with atherosclerosis, contents of elastin in the BrCN method increased, and it was considered that the degenerated collagen or pseudoelastin were contaminated in the elastin fraction according to the amino acid analysis. Elastin binding lipid, especially cholesterol ester and phospholipid fraction, increased in the atherosclerotic aorta. These results suggest that the quantitative and qualitative changes of aortic elastin and elastin binding lipids were strongly related to the atherosclerotic development.