Aggravation of experimental atherosclerosis in vasectomized, cholesterol-fed rabbits.

Rabbits were fed a stock or atherogenic diet for a period of fourteen months. Half of each group of rabbits was bilaterally vasectomized while the other half underwent sham vasectomy. The level of plasma cholesterol was significantly elevated following vasectomy in stock diet-fed rabbits. Atherogenic diet feeding caused marked elevation of plasma cholesterol in both vasectomized as well as sham-vasectomized animals. At the termination of the experiments, aortic cholesterol in stock diet-fed vasectomized rabbits remained unchanged, but this was increased in both vasectomized and sham-vasectomized atherogenic diet-fed animals. Aortic sudanophilia, atherosclerotic plaque size and coronary atherosclerosis index were significantly increased in vasectomized atherogenic diet-fed rabbits as compared to their controls. In stock diet-fed vasectomized rabbits no macroscopic or microscopic lesions were seen even in the presence of mild hypercholesterolaemia.