Intensification of Experimental Atherosclerosis by Semi-Starvation Diet. ∗

Abstract

Conclusion and Summary

Following a 12-week period of feeding 1 % cholesterol, rabbits developed atherosclerotic plaques in thoracic aorta having an average severity (percent of aorta surface covered with plaques) of 24 ± 4%. Following return to a normal cholesterol-free diet for 12 weeks there was a small increase in plaque intensity to 36 ± 6%. In contrast, in a group of rabbits maintained on a semi-starvation level cholesterol-frete diet, there was a striking increase in plaque intensity to 59 ± 8%. These results are interpreted in terms of a more severe hyper-lipemia which was found in this latter group of animals in response to the reduced caloric intake rather than to any specific nutritional deficiency.