Key result
The human abdominal aortic media had fewer lamellar units and lacked vasa vasorum compared to other species, resulting in elevated tension and excessive avascular thickness.
Observational
May limit translatability of animal aortic models to humans; leaves open mechanistic links to disease.
Previous studies of adult mammalian thoracic aortas revealed that tension per medial lamellar unit was independent of species and that distribution of medial vasa vasorum, number of medial lamellar units and medial thickness were consistently related. Except for man, a similar pattern prevailed in abdominal aortic segments of all of the ten species studied. The human abdominal aortic media had relatively fewer lamellar units for its diameter than abdominal or thoracic aortas of other species, resulting in a relatively elevated estimated mean tension per lamellar unit. Vasa were normally absent from the human abdominal aortic media, even though its thickness significantly exceeded the thickness of avascular medias of other species and of avascular zones of medias with vasa vasorum. Elevated calculated tension per lamellar unit and excessive avascular thickness may be factors in the increased susceptibility of human abdominal aortas to atherosclerosis.
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Wolinsky et al. (1969) reported an observational. Human abdominal aortic media vs. Abdominal or thoracic aortas of other species was evaluated on Medial lamellar units, tension per lamellar unit, and vasa vasorum presence. The human abdominal aortic media had fewer lamellar units and lacked vasa vasorum compared to other species, resulting in elevated tension and excessive avascular thickness.
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