title: The effect of maternal hypercholesterolemia on the placenta and fetal arteries in rabbits.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the degree of placental permeability in dyslipidemic rabbits and the consequent vascular dysfunction in fetuses of female rabbits with high lipoprotein levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen adult females New Zealand White rabbits were divided into two groups. Group 1(n=5) - hypercholesterolemic diet with 0.5% cholesterol, and Group 2 (n=10) - control. On day 30, the levels of plasma lipoproteins and triglycerides were analyzed in the mothers, and the presence of collagen was analyzed in the placenta as well as in fetal coronary and aorta. Statistical analyses used the Student's t and the Mann-Whitney tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lipoprotein levels were significantly different (p=0.02 to p<0.001) in experimental and control groups. In the hypercholesterolemic group, total cholesterol levels were in average 793 mg/dl; triglycerides were in average 257 mg/dl; HDL-C was 48 mg/dl, and LDL-C was in average 692 mg/dl. The amount of collagen per micrometers square (mµ²) in samples from hypercholesterolemic animals was significantly higher than in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study confirmed placental permeability to lipoproteins, shown by increased amounts of collagen in fetal tissues. This alteration results in increased susceptibility to atherosclerosis in adult life, representing a risk factor for the early development of disease, which may appear even in the prenatal period.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiology, CardiologyUniversity Foundation (IC/FUC), Porto Alegre-RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elemara
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frantz
authors.forename: Honório Sampaio
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Menezes
authors.forename: Kellyn Cristine
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Milena Pacheco
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Abegg
authors.forename: Cora Albrecht
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.forename: Leoni
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zangalli
authors.forename: Jefferson Luís
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Cláudio Galeano
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Zettler
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000209:etiology*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood*; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000097:blood; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D010539:Permeability; D010920:Placenta / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011817:Rabbits; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D008074:Lipoproteins; D014280:Triglycerides; D003094:Collagen; D002784:Cholesterol