Abstract

Two pilot studies using hamsters were performed, as a prologue to an investigation of suitability of the hamster as an animal model for identification of atherogenic substances. The purpose of these studies was to obtain experience with the hamster as an animal model, with emphasis on biotechnical aspects, biochemical methods and histopathological investigation. The formulated semi-purified hamster diet was sufficiently consumed by the hamsters, which exhibited normal growth. In the hamster serum HDL-cholesterol concentration could reliably and reproducibly be measured using a precipitation technique. The dietary cholesterol-induced changes in blood lipids closely resembled those observed in rats and to a lesser extent those observed in humans, especially when the observation was taken into account that part of HDL2 of the hamster appeared to have a density within the "classical" LDL-range. LDL and HDL2 of the hamster has to be separated within the density ranges 1,019<d<1,037 (g/ml) and 1,037<d<1,125, respectively. In both experiments no pathological changes in heart and arteries were observed. However, treatment with dietary cholesterol during six or eight weeks may be too short to allow development of such changes.