Summary
Biochemical and morphologic studies were carried out on the early effect of hypercholesterolemia on the central nervous system in both metabolically normal and subdiabetic rabbits. Major biochemical difference was the elevation of non-esterified cholesterol in the subdiabetic animals. Histologically, Alzheimer type II astrocytosis was noted in the basal ganglia of the subdiabetic rabbits during the 4th week. The astrocytosis extended into the entire protion of the cerebrum and cerebellum during 2 to 4 months. In the metabolically normal rabbits on the cholesterol diet, on the other hand, similar astrocytic changes were noted after 2 months. Despite the fact that cholesterol crystals had frequently been noted in the capillary walls of the viscera after the 2nd week, similar changes were not observed in the blood vessels of the brains of both the subdiabetic and the metabolically normal rabbits during the 4 months of cholesterol feeding. These observations suggest that cholesterol deposits in the vascular walls are determined by the different rates of lipid metabolism in each individual organ.
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Supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (A-2203) and the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association, Inc.
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Adachi, M., Torii, J., Wellmann, K.F. et al. Early central nervous system lesions in experimental hypercholesterolemia in normal and subdiabetic rabbits. Acta Neuropathol 22, 58–67 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00687550
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00687550