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Increased early atherogenesis in young versus old hypercholesterolemic rabbits by a mechanism independent of arterial cell proliferation
Author(s) -
Cortés Marı́a J,
Dı́ez-Juan Antonio,
Pérez Paloma,
Pérez-Roger Ignacio,
Arroyo-Pellicer Rosa,
Andrés Vicente
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(02)02902-2
Subject(s) - medicine , lesion , proinflammatory cytokine , endocrinology , cholesterol , juvenile , young adult , arterial wall , senescence , cell , biology , inflammation , pathology , genetics
We sought to determine the relative importance of aging and hypercholesterolemia on atherosclerosis. Although plasma cholesterol levels increased similarly in young and old rabbits fed an atherogenic diet for 2 months, aortic atherosclerotic lesions were more prominent in young animals. This finding was associated with an age‐dependent reduction in the DNA‐binding activity of the proinflammatory nuclear factor κB (NF‐κB) in aortic tissue. Atherosclerotic lesions consisted mostly of macrophages, which displayed a similar proliferative response in both age groups. Independently of the age, medial cell proliferation was low and increased as a function of intimal lesion size. Thus, higher atherogenicity in young rabbits exposed to extreme hypercholesterolemia compared to old counterparts is associated with higher activity of NF‐κB in the juvenile vessel wall without apparent age‐dependent changes in arterial cell proliferation.