Why the study?
The lack of reproducible and controlled induction of atherosclerotic lesions in preclinical animal models limits atherosclerosis research.
Does an automated balloon injury system and vitamin/choline deficient diet induce more reproducible and pronounced atherogenesis in rabbits compared to manual injury and standard/high-cholesterol diets?
Does an automated balloon injury system and vitamin/choline deficient diet induce more reproducible and pronounced atherogenesis in rabbits compared to manual injury and standard/high-cholesterol diets?
An automated balloon injury device combined with a vitamin B/choline-deficient diet provides a highly reproducible rabbit model of atherosclerosis, demonstrating that vitamin deficiency drives atherogenic transformation independently of and synergistically with hypercholesterolemia.
Hypothesis-generating for B-vitamin/choline deficiency in atherogenesis; leaves open relevance to human cardiovascular risk.
Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, which is responsible for the majority of deaths worldwide. Lack of reproducible and controlled induction of atherosclerotic lesions in preclinical animal models limits atherosclerosis research. Here, we developed the first automated system for vessel wall injury that leads to more homogenous damage and more pronounced atherosclerotic plaque development at low balloon pressure in a rabbit model of atherosclerosis, and used this system to investigate the risk factor interplay. Elevated plasma homocysteine is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis and is strongly linked to cardiovascular mortality. Already in the absence of hypercholesterolemia, deficiency in vitamins and choline required for homocysteine metabolization results in atherogenic transformation of the aorta i.e. impairment of its biomechanical properties, alteration of collagen organization as well as macrophage and lipid accumulation, and aggravation of atherosclerosis including significantly altered water diffusion and impaired vascular reactivity in its presence.
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Almer et al. (2022) studied Atherosclerosis. B vitamin and choline deficient diet (VCDD) with or without high cholesterol diet (HCD) vs. Standard chow diet or high cholesterol diet alone was evaluated on Atherosclerotic transformation of the aorta (aortic wall thickening, lipid/macrophage accumulation, and biomechanical stiffening).
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