Role of dietary lipids in arteriosclerosis in experimental animals

Effects of dietary fats include the development of arteriosclerosis in humans and experimental animals, in addition to hypercholesterolemia. None of the preceding studies explicitly compared the effects of individual fatty acids. To address these issues, we chose exogenously hypercholesterolemic (ExHC) rats and apolipoprotein (apo) E deficient mice as a model for atherosclerosis and assessed the individual role of fatty acids in animals' susceptibility to atherosclerosis. The rats fed on the diet containing DHA or EPA, compared with those fed on the safflower oil (SO) diet, lowered serum cholesterol concentration, prevented platelet aggregation and slowed thickening in the ascending aorta. Apo E deficient mice developed hypercholesterolemia and severe lesion area in aortic root and arch, to a similar extent when they received DHA or SO. These results suggest a direct action of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the arterial wall, in addition to their effects on hypocholesterolemic and haemodynamic action.