Maternal Hypercholesterolemia During Pregnancy Promotes Early Atherogenesis in LDL Receptor-Deficient Mice and Alters Aortic Gene Expression Determined by Microarray

Abstract

These findings establish an atherogenic effect of maternal hypercholesterolemia in genetically uniform mice and indicate that changes in aortic gene expression persist long after fetal exposure to hypercholesterolemia. In addition to elucidating pathogenic mechanisms initiated during fetal development, this approach may identify genes in morphologically normal arteries that influence the susceptibility to classical risk factors of atherosclerosis.