The efficacy of apolipoprotein E deficiency in cerebral aneurysm formation

Subarachnoid hemorrhage due to the rupture of a cerebral aneurysm is a life-threatening disease. Despite this, the detailed mechanisms underlying the initiation and progression of cerebral aneurysm are unclear. The relation of hypercholesterolemia and apolipoprotein E (ApoE) to cerebral aneurysm formation, has been unclear until now. We used, in the present study, a previously established cerebral aneurysm model of rats and mice whose histological features were closely similar to human cerebral aneurysms. ApoE protein was expressed mainly in the endothelial cells of arterial walls both in control arteries and cerebral aneurysms. The expression of ApoE was reduced during aneurysm formation in the immunohistochemistry. The mRNA expression of ApoE in arterial walls was not different between the controls and cerebral aneurysms. Owing to the deficiency of ApoE, mice presented marked hypercholesterolemia, but there was no difference in cerebral aneurysm formation. In the present study, we clarified that ApoE was not responsible for cerebral aneurysm formation.