Abstract 474: Biglycan Deficiency is Not Protective Against the Development of Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death worldwide. As outlined in the Response to Retention hypothesis proteoglycan mediated lipid retention in the vascular wall is thought to be a major cause of atherosclerosis. We and others demonstrated co-localization of the vascular wall matrix proteoglycan biglycan with apoB containing lipoproteins within lesions. Furthermore, we have previously shown that increased biglycan leads to increased atherosclerosis. Thus we hypothesized that biglycan deficiency would attenuate the development of atherosclerosis. Biglycan deficient mice on a mixed genetic background were crossed with LDL receptor deficient mice (C57Bl6). Biglycan deficient and wildtype LDLr-/- mice were fed a 0.12% cholesterol diet for 26 weeks. There were no differences in blood glucose, blood pressure, or triglycerides between genotypes. Total cholesterol progressively increased in both groups over the course of the study and was significantly higher in biglycan deficient compared to wildtype mice ...