Relationship of Serum Ferritin, Cholesterol, and Intimal Hyperplasia after Mechanical Injury to Carotid Artery in a Rat Model

Purpose: Iron plays an important role in the process of oxidizing Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) in the arterial wall during the development of atherosclerosis, but the role of iron during the development of intimal hyperplasia has not been confirmed. Therefore, we evaluated the relationship of serum ferritin, serum cholesterol and intimal hyperplasia. Methods: Forty rats were divided into four groups according to diet. Group Ⅰ was the normocholesterol and normoferritin group, group Ⅱ was the hypercholesterol and normoferritin group, group Ⅲ was the hypercholesterol and hypoferritin group, and group Ⅳ was the hypercholesterol and hyperferritin group. At the sixth week, we induced clamping injury at the left common carotid artery of each rat. At the end of the eighth week, we obtained tissue of the left common carotid artery from each rat, and we performed staining. After that, we evaluated differences of the intima to media ratio (IMR) of arterial walls according to groups. Results: The IMR of group Ⅱ was higher than that of group Ⅰ (P0.001). Among hypercholesterol groups (group Ⅱ∼Ⅳ), the IMR of group Ⅲ was lower than that of group Ⅱ (P0.001), and the IMR of group Ⅳ was higher than that of group Ⅱ (P=0.007). Conclusion: We suggest the possibility that serum ferritin and serum cholesterol are proportionally related with intimal hyperplasia. But we think that large-volume experiments in animal models and prospective studies in humans are needed to confirm and expand on our results.