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(Hypertension. 1998;32:346-350.)
© 1998 American Heart Association, Inc.

Third Workshop on Structure and Function of Large Arteries: Part II

Static and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of the Carotid Artery From Normotensive and Hypertensive Rats

Oscar Lichtenstein; Michel E. Safar; Eric Mathieu; Pierre Poitevin; ; Bernard I. Levy

From Biology of the Vascular Wall, INSERM Units 141 (O.L., E.M., P.P., B.I.L.) and 337 (M.E.S.), IFR Circulation, Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris, France.

Correspondence to Bernard I. Levy, INSERM Unit 141, 41 Blvd de la Chapelle, 75475, Paris, France. E-mail levy{at}infobiogen.fr

Abstract

Abstract—Several recent results obtained in hypertensive animals and subjects under in vivo isobaric conditions do not confirm the classic view of stiffer arteries in hypertensive subjects. We compared the mechanical behavior of in situ isolated common carotid arteries from normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) and age-matched spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) under both static and dynamic conditions for transmural pressure ranging from 50 to 200 mm Hg. The static pressure (P)–diameter (D) relationship was shifted to higher values of diameters in the SHR mainly because of a larger unstressed carotid diameter (D_o) in hypertensive rats. The carotid mechanical strain, calculated as (D-D_o)/D_o, was significantly reduced in SHR at pressure levels between 100 and 200 mm Hg. The static carotid compliance and distensibility were markedly smaller in SHR than in WKY carotid arteries, indicating a stiffer wall in hypertensive animals. In contrast, carotid compliance and distensibility were similar under dynamic conditions close to the in vivo pulse pressure (frequency, 300 bpm; peak amplitude of the oscillatory pressure, 20 to 25 mm Hg). However, marked differences in dynamic compliance- and distensibility-strain relationships in SHR and WKY are evidence of clearly different arterial wall material properties in both strains. We therefore conclude that larger lumen carotid arteries in hypertensive rats could compensate for a stiffer arterial wall, resulting in similar dynamic compliance and distensibility in normotensive and hypertensive rats.

Key Words: carotid arteries • stiffness • viscosity • blood pressure

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