Experimental atherosclerosis in the dog: A morphologic study ☆

Abstract Young mongrel dogs developed atherosclerosis of various degrees in their coronary arteries, aortas, and iliac and caudal arteries when they were fed atherogenic diets containing butter, cholesterol, sodium cholate, thiouracil, and other basal ingredients for the periods of 5 1 2 –16 months. None of the dogs had evidence of arterial occlusion. Grossly, the intimal lesions were most marked in the lower segments of the abdominal aortas. Histologically, the coronary arteries and the aortas revealed subendothelial collections of lipid-laden macrophages mixed with erythrocytes and leucocytes in the early lesions and with connective tissue components in the late lesions. Electron-microscopically, lipid-laden macrophages were closely associated with endothelial cells, appeared to be penetrating the endothelium, and were mixed with smooth muscle cells in the subendothelial space.