Physical Characteristics of the Aortas in Old Stroke-prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

抄録

Our detailed study on the physical characteristics of the aorta by using a modified technique confirmed the previous report and showed that the aortic walls of SHRSP were brittle or fragile, obviously thickened and poorly extended, especially in males, in comparison with those of WK throughout their lives. As there is a structural difference between the aortas and the cerebral arteries, the brittleness of aortic walls may not indicate that similar characteristics of cerebral arteries can be a back ground of cerebral lesions.
However, the absorbing function of greater pulse pressure may be less in the aortas of SHRSP because of the reduction of elasticity. Therefore, the cerebral vessels in SHRSP may be exposed to greater pulsatile changes in blood pressure.
This modified method enabled us to record the load-elongation and extension curve of the strips, so that solidity or the stiffness of the aorta would be investigated in the future.