Spontaneous atherosclerosis in pigeons. A model system for studying metabolic parameters associated with atherogenesis.

The interpretation of metabolic studies related to early changes in spontaneous atherosclerosis has been hampered by the focal nature of the disease and by the lack of a well-defined model system of the disease process. Gross, histologic and ultrastructural observations of lesion development at the celiac bifurcation of the aorta in atherosclerosis-susceptible White Carneau and atherosclerosis-resistant Show Racer pigeons are compared and discussed in terms of hemodynamics, muscular aggregation and altered metabolism of smooth muscle cells. Detailed knowledge of the morphologic sequence of events in lesion localization makes the celiac bifurcation in White Carneau and Show Racer pigeons a useful model for genetic comparisons of arterial wall metabolism and for investigating metabolic alterations occurring with atherogenesis.