Ultrastructural examination of rabbit aortic wall following high-fat diet feeding and selenium supplementation: a transmission electron microscopy study

Experiments were carried out to examine the changes occurring in the wall of rabbit aortae following high-fat diet (HFD) feeding as well as HFD + selenium supplementation. Male New Zealand White rabbits were divided into three groups-control, HFD-fed and HFD + Se supplementation-and were treated for three months. The study depicted that levels of serum total cholesterol and triglycerides were markedly increased in the HFD-fed group as compared with control animals. However, in the HFD + Se-fed group, these levels were markedly suppressed vis-à-vis animals fed on HFD only. Development of atherogenic and atheromatic plaques has been shown at the light microscopy level in HFD-fed rabbits, whereas these developments were not visible in the HFD + Se-fed rabbits. Transmission electron microscopy findings indicated altered ultrastructure in the endothelial cells of the intimal layer as well as smooth-muscle cells of the medial layer in HFD-fed animals. However, these findings indicated normal ultrastructure in most of the cells, with little ultrastructural alterations from animals supplemented with Se along with HFD feeding. The study on the whole depicted the ability of Se to inhibit the onset of progression of aortic disease and hence has relevance to its therapeutic potential.