title: [The stability of the atherosclerotic plaque depends on the extent of injured endothelium:results from a novel model of ischemia/reperfusion induced atherosclerosis in carotid artery of rats].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe the atherogenic lesion progress in a novel ischemia/reperfusion induced atherosclerosis model in the carotid artery of rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rats were divided into normal control, sham-operated control and ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) groups (n = 10 each). IRI was induced by 30 min carotid artery occlusion with a 2 cm long artery clips in anesthetized rats. Four weeks later, hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and immunohistochemical stain were performed on carotid arteries of various groups. The ratio of neointima area/media area (I/M) and expression of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM-1/CD31) were compared among groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  (1) Neointimal hyperplasia was detected in carotid artery of IRI group and the I/M ratio was significantly higher than in normal control and sham-operated groups (1.328 ± 0.301 vs. 0.011 ± 0.004 and 0.017 ± 0.008, all P < 0.01). (2) Small to large-sized neointima were found in the IRI group and the small sized intima was stable while large sized intima which covered the whole cavity was instable and underwent spontaneous rupture and thrombosis formation. (3) CD31 expression was significantly upregulated in carotid artery of IRI group corresponding to the instability of neointima in this group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ischemia-reperfusion injury of carotid artery could result in atheroma in rats, this model could be used for future research on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Our results show that endothelium injury of the arteries is the key factor to trigger atheroma and responsible for the disruption of the plaque.
authors: Department of Cardiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Hypertension Research Division, Fuzhou 350005, China. Email: jxueqing@sohu.com.
authors: Xue-qing
authors: XQ
authors: Jin
authors: Xu-wei
authors: XW
authors: Wu
authors: Zhuo-qiang
authors: ZQ
authors: Lu
authors: Jing-jing
authors: JJ
authors: Gong
authors: Hua-jun
authors: HJ
authors: Wang
authors: Chang-sheng
authors: CS
authors: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000473:pathology*; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury
chemical_list: D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1