Atheroma and Other Lesions Produced in Rabbits by Cholesterol Feeding

Abstract

Ignatovski (1) in 1908 published the results of his experiments on the effect of animal food on the rabbit. By feeding milk and egg yolk to these animals he produced various lesions, the most noteworthy of which were atheroma of the aorta, cirrhosis of the liver, and enlargement of the adrenals. In the following year Starokadomsky and Ssobolew (2), also by feeding rabbits on milk and egg, confirmed the results of Ignatovski in so far as the production of an atheroma of the aorta was concerned. They also obtained lesions in the innominate artery, carotids, and subclavians. Ignatovski ascribed his results to animal proteids. Several workers had previously described lesions produced in rabbits by animal food (d'Amato (3) lesions of the aorta, and Gamier and Simon (4) lesions of the liver), but these lesions differed essentially from those produced by Ignatovski and the latter's results attracted particular attention on account of the similarity of the aortic lesions as described by him to human atheroma. Stuckey (5) also confirmed Ignatovski's results. He afterward attempted to determine what part of the food given was responsible for the lesions, trying (6) milk, meat juice, egg albumin, and egg yolk, with the result that lesions as described by Ignatovski were produced only by the egg yolk. Later (7) he used different animal and plant fats, fish liver oil, beef ;fat, and sunflower-seed oil with negative results. He did, however, produce lesions of the aorta, apparently identical with those described by Ignatovski, by feeding rabbits on brain.Chalatow (8) studied the livers of Stuckey's rabbits and reported characteristic changes in the livers of those which had been fed on egg and brain. In these he found an abundant infiltration of the parenchyma with doubly refracting fat.Wesselkin (9) fed rabbits on egg and milk and others on lecithin and milk. In the former he obtained an abundant deposit in the liver, aorta, and spleen of lipoid substances which he considered mainly cholesterol esters. In the lecithinfed rabbits also he found in the same organs a deposit of lipoids which, from their mlcrochemical reactions, he believed to be phosphatids. Because, however, no pathological changes followed the deposit of the latter in the organs, while marked changes were produced by the cholesterol esters, he concluded that the injury was to be ascribed to the cholesterol of the egg yolk. 69 on

The Evidence for Saturated Fat and for Sugar Related to Coronary Heart Disease

“…3 Subsequent studies in the early part of the 20 th century showed that feeding rabbits cholesterol produced atherosclerosis. 4–6 The fact that rabbits are naturally herbivores (never eating cholesterol in their usual diet) made the significance of these experiments questionable, and while dietary cholesterol intake may exert some effects on serum cholesterol and ultimately atherosclerotic plaques in humans, dietary cholesterol has increasingly become less of a concern for CHD. Other dietary culprits may be of greater concern.…”

The Success Story of LDL Cholesterol Lowering

“…1,2 This discovery was soon afterward confirmed by C.H. Bailey in San Francisco, 3 and the same year that Anitschkow published his experiments with rabbits; Bacmeister and Henes, 4 using new methods of analysis, demonstrated that elevated blood levels of cholesterol were associated with certain diseases, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease. According to the pathologist William Dock, there was general acceptance in the medical field in the beginning of the 1920s that lipid-rich intimal lesions that caused arterial obstruction were because of infiltration of plasma lipids and could be caused by hyperlipidemia because of diet.…”

The Influence of Thyroidectomy, Splenectomy, Gonadectomy, and Suprarenalectomy Upon the Development of Experimental Atherosclerosis in Rabbits

“…The similarity of experimental atheromata to those seen in humans was pointed out by various authors, especially Anitschkow (7), Aschoff (8), Zinserling (9), Klotz (10), and Bailey (11). It was recognized, as has been emphasized by Bailey (11), that although the experimental atheromata are practically identical with those seen in man, constantly associated with the artificially produced lesions are fatty deposits in other tissues such as spleen, liver, and kidneys not usually accompanying atherosclerosis in man.…”

“…Cholesterol has been administered in various forms for the production of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis. It has been given in pure form by intravenous injection in sesame oil (Adler (25)), emulsified with sodium oleate (Klotz (10)), intraperitoneally in aqueous emulsion (Dewey (14)), and by feeding cholesterol-containing substances such as egg yolk, brain substance, dried liver (Anitschkow (7), Stuckey (2), Steinbiss (21), Bailey (11), and others). Lanolin (adeps lana~ hyd.)…”