COMPARISON OF INTIMAL THICKENING OF CHINESE AND NEW-ZEALAND CORONARY-ARTERIES

Coronary arteries from forensic autopsies on 170 Chinese subjects aged 0 to 60 years were compared with those of 301 New Zealand individuals of corresponding ages to explore the reasons for the lower incidence of coronary artery disease in Chinese people. Intimal thickening progr essed more rapidly in Chinese subjects up to the age of 30 years, but more slowly in the older age groups. The most striking difference was the much reduced lipid content of the intima and the better formed lum inal surface of Chinese arteries of older subjects. These observations are consistent with the known dietary and plasma lipid differences be tween the peoples of China and the Western world, and they offer furth er evidence of the damaging effect of lipid and macrophages on the for mation of an elastin membrane at the luminal surface of the intima sub jacent to the endothelial cells.