CORONARY ARTERY HYALINOSIS IN RATS FED ALLYLAMINE

Different concentrations of allylamine in corn oil or as a fumarate salt was fed to 75 rats for periods up to 284 days. A majority of these rats developed focal hyalinosis of the proximal coronary arteries and conspicuous medial edema of the smaller branches together with myocardial infarction. Repeated attempts to produce comparable arterial hyalinosis in other parenchymatous organs were unsuccessful. Intimal cartilagenous plaques in the aortic arch were seen in 18 test rats. Coronary arteritis and intimal fibrosis usually produced by parenteral administration of allylamine to dogs did not develop when the durg was fed in the diet to rats. On the basis of a limited and focal arterial involvement and the character of cytologic alterations observed in the media of the coronary arteries, there is a suggestion that the smooth muscle fibers are selectively injured. Prolonged ingestion of allylamine therefore promotes a focal degeneration of the coronary arteries which closely resembles the morphologic alterations seen in aging rats. © 1969.