The origin of aortic phospholipid in rabbit atheromatosis.

Radioactive phosphorus (P32) was injected into normal and cholesterol-fed rabbits. A marked derangement of aortic phospholipid metabolism was found in the cholesterol-fed animals. The phospholipid found in the atheromatous aortas appeared to have been synthesized by the aorta itself rather than to have been deposited there from the plasma. T HE etiology of atheromatosis has been explored from different points of view." 2,3 Blood cholesterol has been investigated intensively and found elevated in a portion of the patients and in all experimental animals developing this condition. Plasma phospholipids are usually elevated when the cholesterol level is high. Some workers, however, have related the increased cholesterol-phospholipid ratio to the development of atheromata. More recently attention has been focused on "physical hyperlipemia," that is, the presence of abnormal lipoproteins and exaggerated chylomicronemia in the plasma of atherosclerotics. The increased cholesterol and phospholipid content of the atheromatous aorta was noted