Increased early atherogenesis in young versus old hypercholesterolemic rabbits by a mechanism independent of arterial cell proliferation.

We sought to determine the relative importance of aging and hypercholesterolemia on atherosclerosis. Although plasma cholesterol levels increased similarly in young and old rabbits fed an atherogenic diet for 2 months, aortic atherosclerotic lesions were more prominent in young animals. This finding was associated with an age-dependent reduction in the DNA-binding activity of the proinflammatory nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) in aortic tissue.