Intimal Thickening and Hyperlipidemia in Experimental Primate Vascular Autografts

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Abstract
Intimal thickening is a significant cause of late failure of aorto-coronary vein grafts. The microscopic appearance of this thickening is similar to that of arterial atherosclerosis and hyperlipidemia may play a role in its pathogenesis. The morphology and lipid composition of autologous vein and artery grafts in normal and hyperlipidemic rhesus monkeys [Macaca mulatta] was studied. Grafts were examined 6 mo. after insertion by EM and light microscopy and tissue lipids were determined quantitatively. Intimal thickening occurred in all grafts. Specific morphology and lipid composition of the grafts were influenced by the type of tissue used for grafting and by the presence or absence of hyperlipidemia. The degree of intimal thickening could not be related to either of these 2 factors. Surgical transplantation in this model provides the most powerful stimulus for intimal thickening and any additional effect on this process by hyperlipidemia is small.