ATHEROSCLEROSIS AND ACUTE ARTERIAL THROMBOSIS IN RABBITS - A MODEL USING BALLOON DESENDOTHELIZATION WITHOUT DIETARY INTERVENTION

Acute thrombosis can be induced in rabbits by a triggering protocol us ing Russell's viper venom and histamine given after 8 months of a 1% c holesterol diet and balloon desendothelization. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that aortic desendothelization performed 4 mo nths before the triggering protocol without a high cholesterol diet is a highly effective and less expensive way of producing arterial ather osclerosis and thrombosis. Nineteen male New Zealand white rabbits on a normal diet were studied. The control group (N = 9) received no inte rvention during the 4-month observation period, while the other group (N = 10) was submitted to aortic balloon desendothelization using a 4F Fogarty catheter. At the end of this period, all animals were killed 48 h after receiving the first dose of the triggering treatment. Eight of 10 rabbits (80%) in the balloon-trauma group presented platelet-ri ch arterial thrombosis while none of the animals in the control group had thrombus formation (P < 0.01). Thus, this model, using balloon des endothelization without dietary manipulation, induces arterial atheros clerosis and thrombosis and may provide possibilities to test new ther apeutic approaches.