Components of the Protein-Lipid Complex of Arterial Elastin: Their Role in the Retention of Lipid in Atherosclerotic Lesions

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is associated with accumulations of lipids, especially ester cholesterol, in focal areas of the arterial intima and frequently in the subintimal media below plaques. The lipid accumulations commonly occur intracellularly as well as extracellularly. As many morphological studies have shown, the increased amounts of intracellular lipids are deposited mainly in proliferated and modified smooth muscle cells (Constantinides, 1965; Scott et al., 1967; Geer et al., 1968; Daoud et al., 1968). The extracellular lipids are located at the necrotic core of lesions or are associated with connective tissue which frequently has proliferated. A common finding is reduplication (or splitting) and fragmentation of the arterial elastic lamellae of the intima and subintima of lesions. These altered elastic lamellae appear to play an important role in the retention of stainable lipids in atherosclerotic lesions of all stages (Zugibe and Brown, 1960; McGill et al., 1960; Parker, 1960; Adams and Tuqan, 1961; Friedman, 1963; Lindsay and Chaikoff, 1965; Smith et al., 1967; Kramsch and Hollander, 1968).