Abstract: Objective To study the dynamic changes in cardiac morphology and myocardial collagen in apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE-/-) mice of different age with cholesterol-fed. Methods 18 male apoE-/- mice were randomized into 3 groups: 24 weeks group （n=6）, 32 weeks group （n=6）, 40 weeks group （n=6）. 8 C57BL/6J mice were set as the control. Serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were determined. The cardiac morphological changes and the myocardial collagen were observed. Results Compared with the 24 weeks group, the content of myocardial collagen of 32 and 40 weeks group significantly increased (P<0.05). Conclusion With the increasing of age, TC significantly increased, myocardial collagen content tended to go up.

Key words: apolipoprotein E gene deficient mice, myocardium, collagen, cholesterol