Atheromatous Changes in Aorta, Carotid and Coronary Arteries of Choline-Deficient Rats.

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Abstract
Fatty intimal plaques and degeneration of the underlying media with necrosis and calcification in the most severely affected vessels were found in aortas of 26 of 112 young, adult rats of the Wistar strain fed low-choline diets for periods up to 6 mos. In a few animals, the proximal ends of the carotid arteries were similarly affected. The lesions were most abundant and advanced in the thoracic portions of the aortas, and decreased in number and size farther away from the heart. In the coronary arteries of 8 of the animals, stainable fat was demonstrated microscopically in the intima, and in the most severely affected vessels it extended into the media. Both the intima and media of the latter vessels were thickened. The initial stage of the lesions wherever encountered appeared to consist of the deposition of stainable fat droplets within endothelial cells which subsequently increased in size and number to form intimal plaques. None of the animals exceeded 300 days in age at the time they were sacrificed, making it unlikely that the lesions were of a spontaneous nature. Morphologic features of these exptl. lesions resembled those of atheroma in man in some respects, but differed in others. It is significant that lesions of this nature can be produced by a dietary deficiency in an animal (rat) heretofore considered refractory to aortic disease.