Abstract:

[Abstract] Objective? To establish an animal model of metabolic syndrome which is prone to atherosclerosis. Methods? Eight rabbits were randomly selected from in total of 16 rabbits as control group who were fed with normal rabbit feed. And the rest were used as model group, who were fed with high fat diet. Animals were weigh every week, and triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC), and glucose (GLU) content were tested in the 8th, 10th , 13th, 16th and 18th week. Femoral arterial blood pressure and insulin (INS) content were assessed at the end of experimental period which is the 18th week; Also, aortic sclerosis rating, arterial stiffness index, abdominal fat coefficient, liver coefficient and cardiac coefficient were calculated and heart, aorta, liver and lower extremity artery pathology were examed. Results? Compared with the control group, weight in the model group increased significantly; Serum levels of TC, HDL-C, blood pressure abdominal fat coefficient, liver coefficient were significantly increased in model group; the whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity and blood pressure fat coefficient, liver coefficient, aortic sclerosis rating, arterial stiffness index, and GLU all increased significantly in model group; while HDL-C/TCHO, insulin sensitivity index decreased significantly in model group（P < 0.05 or P＜0.01）. Conclusion Food induced method can form metabolic syndrome and atherosclerosis in rabbit model.

Key words: Metabolic syndrome, Atherosclerosis, disease models, Rabbit, evaluation