Promotion of atherogenesis by copper or iron--which is more likely?
Iron levels increase in atherosclerotic lesions in cholesterol fed-rabbits and play a role in atherosclerosis. We investigated whether copper also rises. Male New Zealand White rabbits were fed high-cholesterol diets for 8 weeks. After sacrifice, lesion sizes were determined, and elemental analyses of the lesion and unaffected artery wall performed using nuclear microscopy. Unlike iron, lesion copper is decreased by about half compared with the unaffected artery wall, and much less copper than iron is present. Our data suggest that iron may be more likely to play a role in the promotion of atherosclerosis than copper.
Rajendran
Reshmi
R
Centre for Ion Beam Applications, Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, MD7, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Singapore.
Ren
Minqin
M
Ning
Pan
P
Tan Kwong Huat
Benny
B
Halliwell
Barry
B
Watt
Frank
F
D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism*; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D003300:Copper; D007501:Iron