Small mesenteric artery passive mechanical properties in adult APOE3 & APOE4 Mice

Previous studies from our lab have demonstrated changes in vascular structure and function in posterior cerebral arteries and left common carotid artery (CA) in adult male and female mice expressing human-ApoE targeted replacement of APOE3 (B6.129P2-Apoe tm2(APOE*3)Mae N8) and APOE4 (B6.129P2-Apoe tm3(APOE*4)Mae N8) (Taconic Labs). Therefore, we hypothesized that similar changes may be observed in the systemic circulation. We isolated 4 th or 5th-order mesenteric arteries from adult 6-month-old male and female mice expressing hAPOE3 (n=5) or hAPOE4 (n=4). Mesenteric artery segments (5-8 mm in length) were isolated and cannulated on an arteriograph to assess vascular mechanical properties; lumen diameter, wall thickness, wall:lumen ratio, distensibility, stress versus strain (SvS), compliance, incremental modulus of elasticity (E inc ), and calculated pulse wave velocity under passive conditions (Ca 2+ -free Krebs plus diltiazem) at intraluminal pressures ranging from 10mmHg to 140mmHg. In addition, phenylephrine-induced contraction and potassium-induced contraction were assessed using Ca 2+ -containing Krebs. Data was analyzed using two-way ANOVA, Student’s t-test, and analysis of nonlinear fit. Values were considered statistically different at p<0.05. In our preliminary data, lumen diameter, distensibility, compliance, strain, and calculated pulse wave velocity were similar in APOE3 and APOE4 mice. Wall thickness and wall:lumen ratio were significantly greater in APOE4 compared to APOE3 mice. Wall stress and E inc were significantly less in APOE4 compared to APOE3 mice. Interestingly, the APOE4 mice exhibited a significantly lesser stress per given amount of strain compared to the APOE3 mice. Phenylephrine- and potassium-induced contractions were similar in APOE3 and APOE4 mice. This data suggests there are changes in passive mechanical properties in small mesenteric arteries from APOE4 mice, which resemble a hypertensive phenotype. ABRC/ADHS18-205211 (DME, CBJ), Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium (funded by the Arizona Department of Health Services, Contract No. CTR040636) and matching funds from Midwestern University (DME), Biomedical Sciences Program (SM, IW, DME), Biomedical Sciences Start-up Funds (DME). This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.