title: The prevention and treatment effects of egg yolk high density lipoprotein on the formation of atherosclerosis plaque in rabbits.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Atherosclerosis is the main leading cause of cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential preventive effect of egg yolk HDL on the atherosclerosis plaque formation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty rabbits were divided into five groups: A; normal diet, B; hyper-cholesterolemic diet, C; hypercholesterolemic + 400 mg/kg egg yolk HDL D; hypercholesterolemic +100 mg/kg egg yolk HDL and E; 200 mg/kg egg yolk HDL. At the end of the experiment, the lipid profiles were measured by spectrophotometric method. The histological sections of thoracic aorta also were taken and analyzed under light microscope.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the end of the 2(nd) and the 4(th) weeks, there was a significant increase of cholesterol level in groups B, C, and D compared to group A (P<0.05). Following HDL treatment, triglyceride (TG) levels increased significantly versus group A and also the TG level decreased significantly in group C, D, and E versus group B (P<0.01). Egg yolk HDL significantly increased HDL-C in groups C, D, and E (P<0.01) compared to groups A and B (P<0.05). The surface area of the atherosclerotic plaque was increased significantly in group B versus group A (P<0.001). Egg yolk HDL consumption reduced the plaque size significantly (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicated that treatment with egg yolk HDL increased serum HDL-C and decreased atherosclerotic plaque size in rabbits. Thus, egg yolk HDL may be considered as an anti-atherosclerotic treatment for cardiovascular diseases.
authors.affiliation: Neurocognitive Research Center and Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Shima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eftekhar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Heidar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Parsaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnourd, Iran.
authors.forename: Zakieh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Keshavarzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbas Tabatabaei
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Yazdi
authors.affiliation: Neurocognitive Research Center and Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mosa-Al-Reza
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hadjzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Aliakbar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajabzadeh
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Sina Omid
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Malayeri
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Cholesterol; Egg yolk; HDL; Rabbit