We studied the prophylactic effect of diltiazem on experimental arteriosclerosis caused by investing the common carotid artery of rabbit with a polyethylene tube for three weeks. The arteriosclerotic lesions consisted mainly of fibrocellular intimal thickening, which is similar to spontaneous arteriosclerosis in human beings.
Diltiazem (100 mg/kg/day orally) suppressed the intimal thickening and the destruction of the internal elastic lamina but not significantly.
This model might be suitable for simulation of human fibrocellular intimal thickening without hyperlipidemia and be useful for the estimation of antiarteriosclerotic effects of various drugs.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Kramsch DM, Aspen AJ, Apstein CS: Suppression of experimental atherosclerosis by the Ca++-antagonist lanthanum . Possible role of calcium in atherogenesis. J Clin Invest65:967-981, 1980.
2.
Kramsch DM, Aspen AJ, Rozler LJ: Atherosclerosis: Prevention by agents not affecting abnormal levels of blood lipids. Science213:1511-1512, 1981 .
3.
Henry PD, Bently KI: Suppression of atherogenesis in cholesterol-fed rabbit treated with nifedipine . J Clin Invest68:1366-1369, 1981 .
4.
Rouleau J-L. , et al: Verapamil suppresses atherosclerosis in cholesterol-fed rabbits. J Am Coll Cardiol1:1453-1460, 1983.
5.
Naito M., et al: Effects of an inorganic Ca2+-channel blocker (lanthanum) on experimental atherosclerosis in rabbits. J Jpn Atheroscler Soc12:997-1004, 1983. (Abstract in English.)
6.
Ginsburg, et al: Calcium antagonists suppress atherogenesis in aorta but not in the intramural coronary arteries of cholesterol-fed rabbits. Lab Invest49:154-158, 1983.
7.
Naito M., et al: Ineffectiveness of Ca2+-antagonists nicardipine and diltiazem on experimental atherosclerosis in cholesterol-fed rabbits. Atherosclerosis51:343-344, 1984. (Letter to the editors.)
8.
Naito M., et al: Ineffectiveness of Ca2+-antagonists nicardipine and diltiazem on experimental atherosclerosis in cholesterol-fed rabbits. Angiology35:622-626, 1984.
9.
Stender S., et al: No effect of nifedipine on atherogenesis in cholesterol-fed rabbits. Arteriosclerosis4:389-394, 1984.
10.
Van Niekerk JLM, et al: Does nifedipine suppress atherogenesis in WHHL rabbits?Atherosclerosis53:91-98, 1984.
11.
Tilton G., et al: Failure of a slow channel calcium antagonist, verapamil, to retard atherosclerosis in a rabbit model of familial hypercholesterolemia . Arteriosclerosis4:530a, 1984.
12.
Willis AL, et al: Antiatherosclerotic effects of nicardipine and nifedipine in cholesterol-fed rabbits. Arteriosclerosis5:250-255, 1985.
13.
Thiery J., et al: Influence of ketanserin and flunarizine on the development of atherosclerosis in cholesterol-fed rabbits. In Proceedings of Poster Communications, 7th International Symposium on Atherosclerosis , 1985, p. 210.
14.
Watanabe N. , et al: Nifedipine suppresses arteriosclerosis in cholesterol-fed rabbits but not in WHHL rabbits. Arteriosclerosis5:523a, 1985.
15.
Davis HR, et al: Effects of sympathectomy, propranolol, and nifedipine on atherogenesis in rhesus monkeys. Arteriosclerosis5:526a, 1985 .
16.
Mizukawa H. : Experimental studies on the morphogenesis of arteriosclerosis. KitakantoMed J19:475-496, 1969. (Abstract in English.)
17.
Takeda F.: Morphogenesis of arteriosclerosis. Pathological studies of the acrylic resin-invested common carotid artery of the rabbit. Tr Soc Path Jap50:367-393, 1961. (Abstract in English.)
18.
Suzuki K.: Experimental studies on morphogenesis of arteriosclerosis, with special reference to relation between hemodynamic change and development of cellulofibrous intimal thickening and atherosclerosis. GunmaJ Med Sci16:185-243, 1967.
19.
Gebrane J., Roland J., Orcel L.: Experimental diffuse intimal thickening of the femoral arteries in the rabbit . Virchows Arch Pathol Anat396:41-59, 1982.
20.
Morselli PL, et al: Pharmacokinetics and metabolism of diltiazem in man (observations on healthy volunteers and angina pectoris patients). In: New Drug Therapy with a Calcium Antagonist, ed. by Bing RJ.Amsterdam, Princeton,Excerpta Medica, 1979, pp. 152-168.
21.
Chaffinan M. , Brogden RN: Diltiazem: A review of its pharmacological properties and therapeutic efficacy. Drugs29:387-454, 1985.
