Cholesterol ester deposition is reduced in rats with hypercholesterolemia and hypertension

High K diets prevent hypertensive endothelial injury and intimal thickening. Cholesterol esters often deposit during hypercholesterolemia. We investigated whether a high K diet would influence cholesterol ester deposits in stroke prone SHR rats. Stroke prone SHR rats were fed for 3 months a basic diet containing 4% cholesterol, 14% coconut oil and 7% NaCl. One group of 13 rats had normal (.5%) K in the diet. Another group of 10 rats ate high (2.1%) K. Mean intra-arterial BPs averaged 165 mmHg in the normal K group and 161 mmHg in the high K group (NS). The serum cholesterol averaged 229 mg/dl in the normal K group and 214 in the high K group (NS). Total aortic cholesterol esters per rat averaged 187 micrograms in normal K vs 68 micrograms in high K, measured by gas chromatography. Thus high K reduced cholesterol ester deposits by 64% (p less than .0003), even though BPs and cholesterol levels were quite similar in the two groups. Both high cholesterol and high BP injure endothelial cells and increase invasion of monocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells into the intima and increase endothelial permeability to proteins. With high plasma cholesterol, these processes lead to atherosclerosis with cholesterol ester deposition. The high K diet, by protecting endothelial cells, can greatly decrease this cholesterol ester deposition. This effect could possibly be useful for preventing heart attacks in human hypertension.