ON THE HISTORY OF THE EMERGENCE OF THE CHOLESTEROL MODEL OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

The year 2012 marked the centenary of the cholesterol model of atherosclerosis developed by Nikolai Nikolayevich Anichkov and Semion Sergeyevich Khalatov. The emergence of the model was an important milestone for developing the concepts of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and determined the lines of the further work of N.N. Anichkov and his scientific school, as well as of many other research teams in Russia and abroad. The present article cites important events of the biographies of N.N. Anichkov and S.S. Khalatov and describes the history of the cholesterol model of atherosclerosis in rabbits, which was developed by these two scholars. Modern concepts of hypercholesterolemia are discussed with emphasis on the genetic model suggested by Watanabe, which highlights the importance of lipoprotein receptors in cholesterol homeostasis. The contribution of N.N. Anichkov and S.S. Khalatov to atherosclerosis research is hard to overestimate. Their model of atherosclerosis has passed the test of time and has been being used by thousand of researches worldwide to elucidate different aspects of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

cholesterol model, atherosclerosis