Submitted on August 16, 2002
Revised on December 6, 2002
Accepted on January 8, 2003
Dietary sodium chloride restriction enhances aortic wall lipid storage and raises plasma lipid concentration in LDL receptor knockout mice
Sergio Catanozi, Jussara C. Rocha, Marisa Passarelli, Maria L. Guzzo, Cleiton Alves, Luzia N.S. Furukawa, Valeria S. Nunes, Edna R. Nakandakare, Joel C. Heimann, and Eder C.R. Quintao
Lipid Laboratory, Sao Paulo University Medical School, Sao Paulo, SP 01246-000
Corresponding Author: lipideq{at}usp.br
This study aimed at measuring the influence of a low salt diet on the development of experimental atherosclerosis in moderately hyperlipidemic mice. Experiments were carried out on mice LDL-receptor (LDLR) knockout (KO), or apolipoprotein E (apoE) KO, on a low sodium chloride diet (LSD) as compared to a normal salt diet (NSD). On LSD the rise of the plasma concentrations of TG and NEFA was, respectively, 19% and 34% in LDLR KO mice, and 21% and 35% in apoE KO mice, and that of plasma cholesterol was limited to the LDLR KO group alone (15%). Probably due to the apoE KO severe hypercholesterolemia,the arterial inner wall fat storage was not influenced by the diet salt content and was far more abundant in the apoE KO than in the LDLR KO mice. However, in the less severe hypercholesterolemia of the LDLR KO mice lipid deposits on the LSD were greater than on the NSD. Arterial fat storage correlated with NEFA concentrations in the LDLR KO mice alone (n = 14, P = 0.0065). Thus, dietary sodium chloride restriction enhances aortic wall lipid storage in moderately hyperlipidemic mice.