Myocardial infarction in rats fed diets containing high fat, cholesterol, thiouracil, and sodium cholate

Investigators have produced arteriosclerosis in experimental animals by dietary means for almost half a century. In contrast to the situation in man, however, all previous reports indicate that complicating thrombosis and infarction have been extremely rare in experimental animals. The current report presents dietary regimens by means of which the authors have produced significant numbers of myocardial and renal infarcts in rats (6 of 10 in one group and 4 of 10 in each of 2 others). It is notable that thrombosis occurred before the appearance of severe structural changes in the arterial walls, although abundant fat could often be demonstrated histochemically.