Indicial functions of arterial remodeling in response to locally
altered blood pressure.
Liu, S. Q., and Y. C. Fung.
Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego,
La Jolla, CA 92093-0412
APStracts 2:0415H, 1995.
We investigated the effect of locally altered blood pressure on the
remodeling processes of the cells and extracellular matrices of the
splenic and ileal arteries, and used an indicial function approach to
quantitatively analyze the relationship between the altered blood
pressure and the remodeling processes. Blood pressure in these
arteries was locally modulated by constricting the aorta at a
location between the celiac and mesenteric bifurcations, resulting in
a higher blood pressure at the splenic arteries than at the ileal
arteries. Following the pressure changes, the cross- sectional areas
and the fractions of the cells and extracellular matrices of the
splenic and ileal arteries were examined by electron microscopy at 2,
6, 10, 20 and 30 days. We found that both arteries remodeled, but the
splenic arteries (higher blood pressure) remodeled more rapidly and
to a larger degree than the ileal arteries (lower pressure comparing
to the splenic arteries) of the same animal. To verify whether an
identical change in the blood pressure at the splenic and ileal
arteries leads to the same remodeling process in these arteries, we
created another model by constricting the aorta at a location between
the mesenteric and renal bifurcations, resulting in hypertension of
the same level at both splenic and ileal arteries. We found that the
remodeling processes of the cells and matrices were almost identical
in the arteries with similar changes in blood pressure. Thus, we
conclude that the remodeling processes of cells and matrices of the
splenic and ileal arteries are dependent on the local blood pressure
in aorta-constriction-induced hypertension, and the indicial analysis
is a useful approach in the description of the relationship between
the blood pressure and the arterial remodeling processes.
Received 28 March 1995; accepted in final form 7 September 1995.
APS Manuscript Number H288-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Heart Circ. Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 23 September 1995.