Key result
Orthopedic surgery roughly doubles aortic valve GAG content at day 5 in atherosclerotic mice.
Why the study?
It remains unclear whether acute systemic inflammatory triggers like major surgery modulate local inflammatory and degenerative processes within the aortic valve in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Does orthopedic surgery induce aortic valve remodeling in an atherosclerosis-prone mouse model?
Does orthopedic surgery induce aortic valve remodeling in an atherosclerosis-prone mouse model?
Absolute Event Rate: 56.7% vs 27.3%
p-value: p=0.016
Orthopedic surgery induces early compositional remodeling of atherosclerotic aortic valves in mice, suggesting that systemic inflammatory triggers may play a role in early valve degeneration.
BackgroundIn atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), acute systemic inflammatory insults such as infections or major surgery are known to trigger cardiovascular events. However, it remains unclear whether such systemic triggers also modulate local inflammatory and degenerative processes within the aortic valve (AV). We therefore investigated the effect of orthopedic surgery on AV remodeling in an atherosclerosis-prone setting.MethodsApoE-/- mice subjected to orthopedic surgery, ApoE-/- controls, and non-atherosclerotic controls were analyzed at 5 and 15 days post-intervention. AVs were assessed for valve thickness, fibrosis, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), lipid accumulation, calcification, iron deposition, and inflammatory cell infiltration.ResultsAtherosclerotic mice exhibited degenerative AV changes compared to non-atherosclerotic controls. Orthopedic surgery did not affect valve thickness or inflammatory cell infiltration, but induced compositional changes, including increased GAG content at day 5 (56.7 vs. 27.3; p=0.016), a trend toward increased fibrosis at day 15 (41.3 vs. 24.9; p=0.068), and reduced lipid content at day 5 (11.3 vs. 37.3; p=0.008). No differences were observed in calcification or iron deposition.ConclusionOrthopedic surgery induces early compositional remodeling of atherosclerotic aortic valves without increasing inflammatory cell infiltration or valve thickening. These findings suggest a role for systemic inflammatory mediators and matrix-driven remodeling, rather than local inflammatory cell influx, in early valve degeneration.
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Broekhoven et al. (2026) studied Atherosclerosis / Aortic Valve Disease (n=40). Orthopedic surgery (midshaft femur osteotomy) vs. No surgery (saline injection) was evaluated on Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content at day 5 (p=0.016). Orthopedic surgery increased aortic valve GAG content (56.7% vs 27.3%, p=0.016) and reduced lipid content (11.3% vs 37.3%, p=0.008) at day 5 in atherosclerotic mice.
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