老龄ApoE基因敲除小鼠动脉粥样硬化斑块的病理观察

目的：观察西方饮食喂养的老龄（≥48周）ApoE基因敲除小鼠血管动脉粥样硬化斑块的病理组织学状况。方法：选取6周龄雄性纯合子ApoE基因敲除小鼠30只，均予以西方饮食喂养，分别在喂养42周（48周龄）、54周（60周龄）、66周（72周龄）时，随机各取10只，取无名动脉做病理检测。酶法检测血脂情况，冰冻切片光镜下观察无名动脉粥样硬化斑块病理情况，图像分析管腔及斑块面积，免疫组化染色观察斑块中骨桥蛋白、α肌动蛋白的表达。von Kossa染色观察斑块钙化情况。结果：西方饮食喂养48周龄后，ApoE基因敲除小鼠主动脉弓内形成广泛而且典型的动脉粥样硬化成熟斑块，60周龄时，无名动脉内斑块面积、其与血管面积比率和自发破裂率最高，不稳定斑块比例最大（P〈0．05～〈0．01）。结论：长期西方饮食喂养ApoE基因敲除小鼠，是研究动脉粥样硬化成熟斑块很好的动物模型。

Pathological observations of atherosclerotic plaques in old mice with apolipoprotein E gene knock-out

Objective： Pathological characteristics of atherosclerotic plaques were observed in old mice with ApoE gene knock out （≥48weeks） and feeding with western-type diet. Methods： The 30 male ApoE^-/- mice were fed with a western-type diet when they were 6 weeks old. Ten ApoE^-/- mices were chosen at random when they were 48, 60 and 72 weeks old for serum lipids and pathological determination. Frozen slides of innominate artery were stained with hematoxylin eosin and oil red ＂0＂ for survey atherosclerosis pathological change. The osteoprotegerin （OPN） and α-actin were observed with immuno-histochemitery stained. The calcify of plaque was observed with von Kossa stain. Analysis was performed with a computerized image analysis program （Image Pro Plus）. Results： Advanced atherosclerotic plaques were observed in all mice. More plaques area, calcification area, instable plaque, ratio of spontaneous plaques rupture were observed in 60 weeks old mice （P〈0. 05 - 〈0.01）. Conclusion： ApoE^-/- mice with western-type diet for a long time are good animal models for advanced atherosclerotic plaques research.