Key result
Rabbit atherosclerotic lesions develop during suckling, regress postweaning, and reappear in adults without lipid correlation.
Why the study?
Early atherosclerotic lesions and their progression in rabbits during different life stages and their relation to plasma lipid levels were not well characterized.
Population
Suckling and adult rabbits of both sexes
Comparison
Lesions in suckling, postweaning, and adult rabbits
Design
Observational study of microscopic aortic lesions
Rabbit data suggest non-lipid factors may drive adult lesion recurrence; hypothesis-generating for human atherosclerosis but should not change practice.
Microscopic lesions interpreted as representing early atherosclerosis were found in the aortas of most suckling rabbits. This is a period characterized by relatively high plasma lipid levels. In the postweaning period the lesions regressed. Fresh lesions reappeared in a significant number of adult rabbits of both sexes. Correlation with plasma lipid levels in the adult is less conclusive.
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Joseph H. Bragdon (1952) studied this question. Spontaneous early atherosclerotic lesions develop in most suckling rabbits alongside high plasma lipids, regress postweaning, and reappear in adults without conclusive lipid correlation.
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