Lower limb amputation is a significant change in body structure. Loss of muscle, blood vessels, and blood leads to a redistribution of blood flow and changes in resistance at the end of blood vessels. In view of the significant increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease after lower limb amputation, the mechanism of which is still unclear, this study aims to establish an animal research model that can verify and explore the effects of amputation on cardiovascular system, and provide the experimental basis for subsequent animal experiments when exploring the effect of different amputation levels on the cardiovascular system. SPF New Zealand rabbits were divided into normal group ( n = 6) and amputation group ( n = 6). The amputation group was treated with above-knee amputation. The changes of low-density liptein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (TC) in serum of all the rabbits were monitored regularly after the surgery. The arterial pathological examination was conducted after the experimental rabbits were executed. The results showed that compared with the normal group, serum LDL-C content and TC content in the amputation group were significantly increased ( P<0.05); The blood vessels of the amputated rabbits had pathological changes such as degeneration and necrosis of smooth muscle cells in the middle membrane layer and rupture of elastic fibers. At the abdominal aorta and aortic arch, the elastic fiber area expression percentage (EFEP) of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the normal group. The results suggest that the cardiovascular system of rabbits has the tendency of decreased arterial elasticity and lipid deposition in blood after amputation, indicating that the animal research model on the effect of amputation on the cardiovascular system has been successfully established, and can provide an experimental platform for further study on the mechanism of the effect of amputation on the cardiovascular system.
下肢截肢是对身体结构的显著改变，肌肉、血管及血液的损失会导致血流的重新分布和血管末端阻力的变化。针对下肢截肢后心血管疾病患病率显著增高但其机制尚不清楚等问题，本文旨在建立一个可验证和探索截肢对心血管系统影响的动物研究模型，并为后续探究不同截肢水平对心血管系统影响的动物实验提供模型和方法。选用无特定病原体（SPF）新西兰兔并分为正常组（ n = 6）和截肢组（ n = 6），其中截肢组作膝上截肢处理，术后定期监测实验兔血清中低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）和总胆固醇（TC）等含量的变化，并取材做动脉病理检测。结果表明，与正常组相比，截肢组血清LDL-C和TC含量均显著增加（ P <0.05）；血管出现了中膜层平滑肌细胞变性坏死、弹性纤维断裂等病理改变；腹主动脉和主动脉弓的弹性纤维面积表达百分比（EFEP）较正常组有明显下降。以上结果提示，兔的心血管系统在截肢术后有动脉弹性降低、血液中脂质沉积等病变的趋势，标志着成功地建立了关于截肢对心血管系统影响的动物实验模型，为进一步研究截肢影响心血管系统的机制提供了实验平台。.
Keywords: Amputation; Animal model; Biochemical index; Cardiovascular system; Pathological examination.