Jens T.
Rosenberg1,2, Sara Campbell3, Ihssan Masad, 12,
Bahram H. Arjmandi3, Samuel Colles Grant, 12
1CIMAR, The National High Magnetic
Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, FL, United States; 2Chemical and
Biomedical Engineering, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, United
States; 3Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, The Florida State
University, Tallahassee, FL, United States
Ovariectomized
(ovx) hamsters provide a model of postmenopausal atherosclerosis to
investigate plaque formation in cerebral and systemic vasculature. The
anti-atherogenic effects of flaxseed were studied by measuring the diameter
of vessels using high resolution images acquired at high field (21.1 T). The animals
were imaged at three time points: baseline, 4 months and 8 months.
Atherosclerotic plaque formations were compared between sham, ovx, and
ovx-flaxseed treated animals. No occlusions could be seen in cerebral
arteries while differences were identified in the carotids and system
circulation.