XeCI laser-induced fluorescence detection of peroxidized lipoproteins in lipid-rich atherosclerotic lesions

Laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy of arterial surfaces provides information about the composition of atherosclerotic plaques. The aim of the study was to determine whether accumulation of peroxidized lipoproteins in arterial walls, a process postulated to play a role in initiating atherosclerotic changes, can be demonstrated by fluorescence spectroscopy. XeC1 excimer laser (= 308 nm) induced fluorescence of human aortas containing early lipid-rich, non-collagenous lesions exhibited marked red shifts and broadening of the fluorescence spectra compared with spectra from non-atherosclerotic aortas. Similar profiles were observed in spectra obtained from oxidatively modified LDL, but not native LDL. In hypercholesterolemic rabbits with early foam cell lesions, spectral shifts resembled those of oxidized f3-VLDL, the major lipoprotein accumulating in arteries of rabbits fed cholesterol. XeCl laser-fluorescence spectroscopy of arterial surfaces may be useful for the identification of arterial plaques indicative of atherosclerosis in its early and probably reversible stages.