Local Hormones and the Atherogenic Uptake of Low Density Lipoprotein in vivo

Atherosclerotic disease begins with the accumulation of atherogenic plasma proteins, predominantly low-density lipoprotein (LDL), in the walls of susceptible arteries. One determinant of this accumulation is the LDL concentration in the blood. We are investigating other factors which may influence the uptake of LDL and of fibrinogen, another atherogenic plasma protein, by artery walls from the circulating blood; the mechanism(s) of this uptake; and the rate and magnitude of the accumulation of the atherogenic plasma components in arteries. In order to model human atherogenesis as closely as possible, the experiments are in vivo using rabbits in which the initial stages of atherogenesis appear to be similar to those in man.