Regular transient limb ischemia prevents atherosclerosis progression in hypercholesterolemic rabbits
10.1097/CM9.0000000000000204
- Author:
Yan ZHOU
1
;
Nan-Rong ZHANG
1
;
Zhi-Nan ZHENG
1
;
Yi YANG
2
;
Bao-Feng LYU
3
;
Hong-Li WANG
4
;
San-Qing JIN
1
Author Information
1. Department of Anesthesia, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510655, China
2. Department of Urology, Shenzhen Second People’s Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518035, China
3. Department of Anesthesia, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zheng Zhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, China
4. Department of Anesthesia, The Fifth Central Hospital of Tianjin, Tianjin 300450, China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Atherosclerosis;
Ischemic pre-conditioning;
Hypercholesterolemia
- From:
Chinese Medical Journal
2019;132(9):1079-1086
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Background::Endothelial dysfunction, the initial pathogenic factor in atherosclerosis, can be alleviated via transient limb ischemia. We observed the effects of regular transient limb ischemia (RTLI) on atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.
Methods::Twenty-eight rabbits were randomized to control, cholesterol, sham, ischemia groups (n=7 each) between October 2010 and March 2011. They were fed a normal diet in the control group and hypercholesterolemic diet in other groups for 12 weeks. Six cycles of RTLI were performed once per day on the ischemia group. Serum samples were prepared to measure the total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) before the experiment (W0), at the end of weeks 4, 8, 12 (W4, W8, W12). The whole aorta was harvested at W12 and stained using Sudan IV to identify the plaque. The plaque area was measured using Image J. Results were analyzed by analysis of variance or rank sum test.
Results::Concentrations of TC in the cholesterol group were higher than those in the control group at W4 (29.60 [23.75, 39.30] vs. 1.00 [0.80, 1.55], Z = –2.745, P = 0.006), W8 (41.78 [28.08, 47.37] vs. 0.35 [0.10, 0.68], Z = –2.739, P = 0.006), W12 (48.32 [40.04, 48.95] vs. 0.61 [0.50, 0.86], Z = –2.739, P = 0.006). Similar results were obtained for HDL-C and LDL-C. Serum concentrations of TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C in the hypercholesterolemic groups had no differences (all P > 0.05). The percentage of plaque area in the cholesterol group was higher than that in the control group (47.22 ± 23.89% vs. 0, Z = –2.986, P = 0.003). Square root of the percentage of plaque area was smaller in the ischemia group than that in the cholesterol (0.44 ± 0.13 vs. 0.67 ± 0.18, P = 0.014) or sham groups (0.44 ± 0.13 vs. 0.61 ± 0.12, P = 0.049).
Conclusion::In hypercholesterolemic rabbits, RTLI might prevent atherosclerosis progression by reducing the percentage of plaque area.
