Effect of Aging on Fatty Streak Formation in a Diet-Induced Mouse Model of Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Age is considered to be a major risk factor for atherosclerosis, but it is unclear whether age has a direct effect on susceptibility to atherosclerosis. Wild-type mice develop fatty streak lesions in the aortic root only when fed a cholate-containing high fat/cholesterol diet. To investigate the influence of age on fatty streak formation, young (10 weeks) and old (53 weeks) female C57BL/6 mice were fed an atherogenic diet containing 15% fat, 1.25% cholesterol and 0.5% sodium cholate for 12 weeks. Atherosclerotic lesions at the aortic root were measured after cryosections were stained with oil red O. Results showed that old mice developed a comparable size of aortic lesions with young counterparts (5,600 ± 2,480 vs. 6,457 ± 1,537 µm²/section; p = 0.77), although old mice had significantly higher plasma cholesterol levels than young mice on the atherogenic diet (p < 0.05). Plasma levels of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 were significantly higher in old mice than in young mice on both chow and Western diets (p < 0.005). These data indicate that age has no direct effect on atherosclerosis susceptibility although it is accompanied by elevations in plasma cholesterol and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 levels in C57BL/6 mice. Thus, increased cardiovascular events with age are probably related to a progressive increase in plaque size rather than to an increase in atherosclerosis susceptibility.

Three-Dimensional Highly Sensitive Diffusion Reflection-Based Imaging Method for the in Vivo Localization of Atherosclerosis Plaques Following Gold Nanorods Accumulation

“…The figure shows the GNRs accumulation in different sites in the artery, 24 h post the GNRs injection, indicating that the hyperlipidemic diet has induced atherosclerosis in the mouse. 37 The CT results provide a proof for the DR in vivo results, which has revealed the GNRs presence in the same artery. Figure S3, in the Supporting Information , illustrates the measurements’ radii over the CT image, suggesting that once the radius of measurement has “met” the GNRs, the DR slope is different.…”

PET imaging detection of macrophages with a formyl peptide receptor antagonist

“…Atherosclerotic lesions in the aortic root were determined by oil red stain, as we previously reported [20][21]. The presence of macrophages in the aortic root was detected with a rat antimouse macrophage/monocyte IgG (Serotec) as previously reported [22].…”

Graded Maximal Exercise Testing to Assess Mouse Cardio-Metabolic Phenotypes

“…Genetic models, like the low-density lipoprotein receptor ( Ldlr -/- ) [ 11 ], apolipoprotein E ( ApoE -/- ) [ 15 ], and endothelial nitric oxide synthase ( eNos3 -/- ) [ 16 ] knockout mice are well studied models of atherosclerosis. Similar to obese humans, diet-induced obese wild-type mice (WT-obese; C57BL/6J) can develop fatty streaks [ 17 ], left ventricular hypertrophy, and cardiac fibrosis [ 18 – 20 ]. Additionally, the WT-obese mouse model phenocopies the insulin resistant state, and subsequent impaired delivery of nutrients to skeletal muscles [ 21 ], that is seen in obese individuals during exercise testing [ 22 ].…”