Effect of Western diet on APOE-/-atherosclerosis model mice
Objective To study the impact of a Western diet-type feed on biological indicators and histopathology in APOE-/-mice.Methods Forty-eight female and 48 male APOE--mice,and 48 female and 48 male C57BL/6J mice were divided into eight breeding groups:APOE-/-breeding feed group,APOE-/-Western dietary feed group,C57BL/6J breeding feed group,and C57BL/6J Western dietary feed group(24 male and 24 female mice per group).Mice were fed the respective diets from 3 weeks until the end of the experiment at 20 weeks.After the experiment,serum was collected for measurement of biochemical indicators.Aortas were removed for oil red O staining and gross examination and the aorta root was paraffin sectioned and stained with hematoxylin and eosin.Results A Western diet did not significantly increase body weight in APOE-/-mice,but did significantly improve the blood lipid index and total cholesterol,low-density lipoprotein,and high-density lipoprotein levels,and promoted the formation of atherosclerotic plaques.Male mice were suitable for modeling gross aortic plaques while female mice were suitable for modeling aortic arch root plaques.Conclusions A Western diet can promote atherosclerosis in APOE-/-mice,increase the aortic plaque area ratio,shorten modeling time,and improve modeling uniformity.