The effect of the duration of cholesterol feeding on the development of sudanophilic lesions in the rabbit aorta

Abstract

Polar coordinate mapping was used to determine the rate of growth of individual sudanophilic lesions on the aortic wall around several major branches of the aortae of cholesterol fed rabbits. Four groups, with 6–8-month old male albino white rabbits in each, were used in the study. One group served as a control and the remaining 3 were fed a diet of 2% cholesterol and 6% heated corn oil mixed with ground rabbit pellets for 4, 8, and 10 weeks each. Animals were sacrificed, the aortae removed, stained with Sudan III, pinned at in vivo dimensions, and mapped by the polar coordinate method. No sudanophilic lesions were observed in the control animals. In the experimental groups, the early lesions, except the coronaries, were almost entirely distal to the orifices, and maintained roughly the same contour while spreading around the orifice. The coronary lesions completely encircled the orifices as described previously. As lesions progressed, they became elevated and often granular, so that the lesions themselves may have affected flow profiles around the orifices. Lesions around adjacent orifices were fused in 48% of the cases after 10 weeks on the diet, as opposed to 2% after 4 weeks on the diet. More prolonged experiments were not possible with this diet as the animals developed jaundice and diarrhea. Hemodynamically, these results suggest that early sudanophilic lesions in cholesterol-fed rabbits develop on the aortic wall in areas of high shear stress.