The mechanism of alloxan protection in experimental atherosclerosis.

Experiments were performed to compare the effects of cholesterol feeding in (a) control rabbits, (b) alloxan-diabetic rabbits, and (c) rabbits injected with alloxan while the pancreas was temporarily occluded from the circulation. The alloxan-diabetic rabbits consumed significantly higher quantities of cholesterol and food and had serum cholesterol and lipoprotein (S(f) 5-9 and S(f) 16-30) concentrations significantly increased over the control levels. They failed to show a commensurate increase in the degree of atherosclerosis.