DIFFERENT STRAINS OF MICE EXHIBIT DIFFERENT AORTIC ARCH GEOMETRY AND PLAQUE DISTRIBUTION: A FLUID DYNAMIC EFFECT?

摘要

In earlier work, we observed different patterns of disease distribution in the aortic arches of apolipoprotien E (apoE)-deficient C57BL/6 (B6) and 129/SvEv (129) mouse strains [1]. In the relatively young mice (6 mo old), fatty plaques are seen mainly in the aortic root area, extending into the right innominate artery (RIA), with very little plaque in the more distal aortic arch in the B6 strain. However, in the 129 strain, plaques are found more in the inner curvature of the aortic arch but less in the sinus area than in B6 strain (Fig. 1). It has been speculated for decades that the non-uniform distribution of arterial plaques is due to the effects of hemodynamics and vessel wall mechanics. From fundamental mechanics, both the fluid dynamics in the vessel and the stress distribution in the vessel wall are dependent on the vessel geometry. Therefore the different disease progression in the two mouse strains could be a consequence of different distributions of hemodynamic or mechanical stress, originating from corresponding differences in aortic arch geometry. In this paper, we are examining the differences between the aortic arch geometries of the corresponding wild-type mice of the two strains.