The effect of induced atherosclerosis on the synthesis of elastin in chick aortic tissue

Atherosclerosis was induced in growing chickens by the administration of a diet containing elevated levels of cholesterol and vitamin D3. The effect of this diet on the accumulation of insoluble elastin and the synthesis of soluble and insoluble elastin in the thoracic aortas of these animals was measured. Although the diet resulted in significant increases in levels of cholesterol, 25-OH vitamin D3 and calcium in plasma, increased levels of cholesterol and calcium in aortic tissue, and histological evidence of aortic lipid deposition, there were no detectable differences between experimental and control animals in either the rate or the time course of accumulation of total insoluble elastin in the thoracic aorta, or in the rate and time course of synthesis of soluble and insoluble elastin. These data suggest that, at least in this model, any effect of atherosclerosis on aortic elastin production must be either small or so localized as to be not measurable by the methods used.