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Journal of Nutrition Vol. 91 No. 4 April 1967, pp. 441-446
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Effect of Methionine Supplementation on Experimental Atherosclerosis in Rabbits1,2,

William J. Poole, Jr., Stanley R. Shimer, William R. Dunlop and Willard E. Urban, Jr.

University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

A study was made to determine the effect of methionine on hypercholesteremia and atherosclerosis. Forty-eight New Zealand white rabbits were divided into 4 dietary groups of 12 rabbits each. Groups 1 and 2 received daily supplements of 0.5 g cholesterol and 0.25 g methionine, respectively. Group 3 received 0.5 g cholesterol and 0.25 g methionine daily. Group 4, the control group, received no supplement. Two animals from each group were killed and autopsied after 7, 21, 42, 63, 84, and 105 days of supplementation. Aortic tissue was examined both grossly and histologically for signs of atherosclerosis, and the cholesterol content of aortas, hearts, livers, kidneys, and serum was determined. At 21 days and at each subsequent autopsy interval, all rabbits fed cholesterol and cholesterol plus methionine demonstrated grossly apparent atherosclerosis. Medial involvement occurred quite early in the formation of the plaque. The addition of cholesterol to the ration had no observable biochemical effect of the kidney or aorta, but did affect the cholesterol level of the serum, liver and heart. Total feed intake was related negatively to liver cholesterol. There was no evidence of an inhibiting effect of methionine. It was observed that atherosclerosis was not, in all cases, accompanied by elevated serum cholesterol levels.

1 This study was part of a Northeast Regional Project NE-37, a cooperative study involving agricultural experiment stations in the Northeast Region, and supported in part by regional funds of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

2 Published with the approval of the Director of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station as Scientific Contribution no. 394.

Manuscript received 1 August 1966.




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