Key result
Advanced atherosclerosis in ApoE-KO mice dramatically increases vascular stiffness versus controls.
Why the study?
The relative contributions of aging and atherosclerosis to vascular stiffness were unclear.
p-value: p=<0.001
In a murine model, atherosclerosis contributes more significantly to vascular stiffness than aging alone, but primarily during advanced stages of plaque formation.
Atherosclerosis may accelerate late aortic stiffening beyond aging in mice; leaves open translation to human vascular disease mechanisms.
To determine the relative contributions of aging and atherosclerosis to vascular stiffness, we studied aortic stiffness, plaque, and elastin in 8-, 16-, 25-, and 34-week-old male ApoE-KO and C57BL/6J control mice (N = 48). Stiffness increased gradually in both strains up to 25 weeks (p < 0.05), and dramatically between 25 and 34 weeks in ApoE-KO (p < 0.001). Aging ApoE-KO demonstrated increased plaque (p = 0.02), medial thickening (p < 0.001), and severe elastin fragmentation (p < 0.001). We conclude that the contribution of aging to vascular stiffness is relatively minor compared with the influence of atherosclerosis. However, the effect of atherosclerosis on stiffness is significant only with advanced stages of plaque formation.
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Santelices et al. (2008) studied Vascular stiffness and atherosclerosis (n=48). Atherosclerosis (ApoE-KO strain) vs. C57BL/6J control mice was evaluated on Aortic stiffness (p=<0.001). Advanced atherosclerosis in ApoE-KO mice dramatically increased vascular stiffness between 25 and 34 weeks compared to controls (p<0.001).
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