Key result
Postnatal oral administration of melatonin (1 mg/kg/day) for 21 days did not significantly modify the biomechanical properties of the thoracic aorta in newborn lambs gestated under chronic hypoxia.
Why the study?
The study aimed to characterize the passive structural mechanical behavior of the chronic hypoxic lamb thoracic aorta gestated, born, and raised at high altitude.
Does melatonin improve the passive structural mechanical behavior of the thoracic aorta in chronic hypoxic newborn lambs?
Does melatonin improve the passive structural mechanical behavior of the thoracic aorta in chronic hypoxic newborn lambs?
Melatonin treatment does not significantly alter the passive biomechanical properties of the thoracic aorta in a newborn lamb model of chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension.
Melatonin does not modify aortic biomechanics in hypoxic lambs; leaves open its vascular effects in neonatal hypoxia models.
The present study involves experiments and modelling aimed at characterizing the passive structural mechanical behavior of the chronic hypoxic lamb thoracic aorta, whose gestation, birth and postnatal period were carried at high altitude (3600 masl). To this end, the mechanical response was studied via tensile and pressurization tests. The tensile and pressurization tests measurements were used simultaneously to calibrate the material parameters of the Gasser-Holzapfel-Ogden (GHO) hyperelasctic anisotropic constitutive model through an analytical-numerical optimization procedure solved with an evolutionary strategy that guarantees a stable response of the model. The model and procedure of calibration adequately adjust to the material behavior in a wide deformation range with an appropriate physical description. The results of this study predict the mechanical response of the lamb thoracic aorta under generalized loading states like those that can occur in physiological conditions and/or in systemic arterial hypertension. Finally, the novel use of the evolutionary strategy, together with the set of experiments and tools used in this study, provide a robust alternative to validate biomechanical characterizations.
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Rivera et al. (2021) studied Pulmonary arterial hypertension of the newborn (PAHN) (n=9). Melatonin vs. Vehicle (1.4% ethanol) was evaluated on Distensibility (DC) in pressurization test (x 10^-3 mmHg^-1). Postnatal oral administration of melatonin (1 mg/kg/day) for 21 days did not significantly modify the biomechanical properties of the thoracic aorta in newborn lambs gestated under chronic hypoxia.
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