IMPORTANCE Endoscopic balloon dilation is commonly performed in children with airway stenosis, but guidelines are needed for selecting safe and effective balloon inflation parameters. OBJECTIVE To determine the feasibility and safety of airway balloon dilation in live rabbits using a range of balloon diameters and pressures. DESIGN AND SETTING Prospective animal study using 32 adult New Zea...

Presence of significant quantities of gas in the intestines may hinder a proper conduction of abdominal ultrasonography. In humans, preparatory techniques are used to solve this, but measures to avoid ultrasonographic complications due to intestinal gas in rabbits have not been reported. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of fasting and simethicone administered orally on ...

Mosaicism of normal and chromosomally aberrant cells was detected in 14 of 20 spleens from adult New Zealand Black (NZB) mice reared under conventional conditions, a strain that spontaneously develops autoimmunity and lymphoreticular malignancy. No abnormalities were found in marrows from these same animals or in spleens from NZB mice younger than 3 months. The prevalence of chromosomal aberrat...

The anti-atherogenic effects of spirulina (Spirulina platensis) were investigated in the New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit model. The animal had hypercholesterolemia induced by being fed a high cholesterol diet (HCD) containing 0.5% cholesterol for 4 wk, and then fed a HCD supplemented with 1 or 5% spirulina (SP1 or SP5) for an additional 8 wk. Spirulina supplementation lowered intimal surface of ...

We investigated the effect of cholesterol feeding on plasma cholesterol concentrations, hepatic activities and mRNA levels of HMG-CoA reductase and cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase and hepatic LDL receptor function and mRNA levels in 23 New Zealand White (NZW) and 17 Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbits. Plasma cholesterol concentrations were 9.9 times greater in WHHL than NZW rabbit...