RESUMO
AIM: To study the changes of the sphingomylinase activity and ceramide content in rabbit aorta of experimental atherosclerosis and investigate the effects of emodin on them. METHODS: The qualified rabbits were fed with food containing 1% cholesterol and 5% lard for 10 weeks to establish the animal models. The concentration of cholesterol (TC) was assayed by a enzyme method. Trace-fast-test method was used to test the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and motified-BAMuGuoFu methods was employed to assay the content of myocardial malondialdehyde (MDA). Radiolabeled-enzyme-tracing was used to detect the activity of the sphingomyelinase,and thin-layered scanning was conducted to analyze the content of the ceramide in aorta. RESULTS: The ceramide content in aorta and the sphingomyelinase activity were markedly increased in the rabbits with experimental atherosclerosis. The increase was positively correlated with the content of TC and MDA and negatively correlated with the activity of SOD in blood. Compared to the model animals, emodin at concentration of 5 mg?kg -1 , 10 mg?kg -1 and 20 mg?kg -1 respectively reduced the area of plague on endothelium in rabbit's aortic artery and elevated the activity of SOD (P
