Risk factors of atherogenicity in inherently scorbutic rats (OD rats)

We observed the pathophysiological state of a colony of Wistar rats with a hereditary defect in vitamin C-synthesizing ability (the OD rat) in three kinds of experiments. In experiment 1, OD rats that were not supplemented with L-ascorbic acid (ASA) were killed 36 days after birth. In experiment 2, OD rats that were not supplemented with AsA were killed 63 days after birth. In experiment 3, OD rats that were supplemented with sufficient ASA (100 mg/100 g body weight/day) for 16 days from 47 days after birth were assayed 63 days after birth. From analyses of serum chemistry, platelet aggregability and counts of blood cells, some atherogenic risk factors were elucidated, that is, there was a decrease of high density lipoprotein in serum and an increase of platelet aggregability. Furthermore, it was observed that OD rats have some characteristics different from latent vitamin C-deficient animals from the viewpoint of malnutrition.