Intimal Cell Population and Location in Arteries of Japanese Children and Youth

It seems important to study initial changes in any sort of disease to elucidate its pathologenesis. Arterial atherosclerosis varies in its severity and extent between each artery. By macroscopic and immunocytochemical studies on aortas and coronary arteries of young Japanese people, the following results were obtained. Fatty streaks are more frequently discovered in aortas than in coronary arteries, while coronary arteries tend to disclose a higher frequency of diffuse intimal thickening with more smooth muscle cells and fewer macrophages. But there is not much difference in frequency of fibrous plaques between the two arteries. Lesions of localized elevation appear to have many more macrophages in coronary arteries. There must be significant structural and functional differences in the "normal" state between aortas and coronary arteries, which may suggest that it is necessary to pay attention to the characteristics specific to each artery in studying the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.