Objective: To investigate the phenotypic difference and pathological mechanism of insulin resistance atherosclerosis models in white haired black eyed (WHBE) rabbits and Japanese white eared (JW) rabbits
Methods: 12 WHBE rabbits and 12 JW rabbits were divided into normal control group (NC) and high fat and high sugar diet (HF) group (6 rabbits in each group). The IR-AS model was induced by HF diet for 12 weeks. After the model was established, blood lipids, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured; The glucose tolerance test was performed to calculate the area under the blood glucose and insulin curve; Detect the expression of liver microsomal triglyceride transporter (MTTP), nuclear factor E2 (Nrf2) and SOD1 genes, and observe the HE staining pathological changes of fat and aortic vessels and the expression of vascular CD68
Results: Compared with NC group, HF group had obesity, increased blood lipid, poor glucose tolerance, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), decreased SOD activity and MDA content in plasma and liver, increased expression of MTTP and Nrf2 genes in liver, decreased expression of SOD1 gene, and significantly increased vascular lipid deposition, AS and CD68 expression in blood vessels; Compared with JWHF group, WBHF group showed significant differences in TG, LDL-C, HOMA-IR, area under the glucose tolerance curve (U_GLU), MDA content, fat diameter, liver SOD1 gene expression, AS lesion degree and vascular CD68 expression
Conclusion: High fat and high sugar diet can induce rabbits to form IR-AS, showing lipid metabolism disorder, inflammation and AS lesions. However, the extent of lesions in WHBE rabbits is significantly worse than JW rabbits, which may be related to the differences in lipid metabolism and oxidative stress responses between the two strains of rabbits