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Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 43, 1927-1938, November 2002
Copyright © 2002 by Lipid Research, Inc.

-Tocopherol protects against diet induced atherosclerosis in New Zealand white rabbits

Dawn C. Schwenke^1,*, Lawrence L. Rudel^*,, Mary G. Sorci-Thomas^* and Michael J. Thomas^2,

^* Departments of Pathology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC
Biochemistry, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC

² To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: mthomas{at}wfubmc.edu

In this study, we asked the question "does -tocopherol supplementation prevent an increase in total plasma cholesterol (TPC) concentration and reduce the deposition of cholesterol in arterial plaques of rabbits fed atherogenic diets?" Isocaloric diets containing 0.1% cholesterol to induce atherosclerosis were enriched in one of three fats: saturated fats (SAT), monounsaturated fats (MONO), or n-6 polyunsaturated fats (POLY). Half of each of the three diets were supplemented with 2,500 IU -tocopherol/kg-diet. Unsupplemented diets contained 25 IU -tocopherol/kg-diet. Rabbits supplemented with -tocopherol had plasma -tocopherol concentrations 10-fold higher and an average TPC concentration 31% lower, P = 0.017, than rabbits fed unsupplemented diets. Among the three fat-fed groups, the difference was greatest for the POLY fat fed group (54%, P = 0.041). POLY fat-fed rabbits without -tocopherol supplementation had plasma HDL cholesterol concentrations that were less than half that of rabbits fed other fats, P 0.0001. In general, differences in mean esterified artery cholesterol concentrations among the three fat-fed groups, with and without -tocopherol supplementation, paralleled differences in TPC concentration among the groups.

This study suggests that for rabbits fed high pharmacological doses of -tocopherol, atherosclerosis can be diminished in situations where the plasma cholesterol concentrations are also significantly lower.

Abbreviations: BHT, butylated hydroxytoluene; DTPA, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid; MONO, diet group fed a diet enriched with monounsaturated fats; POLY, diet group fed a diet enriched with polyunsaturated fats; SAT, diet group fed a diet enriched with saturated fats

Supplementary key words -tocopherol • fatty acid • polyunsaturated fatty acid • saturated fatty acid • monounsaturated fatty acid • high density lipoprotein • lipoprotein

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