Increased arterial stiffness is associated with atherosclerosis in humans, but there have been limited animal studies investigating the relationship between these factors. We bred elastin wildtype (Eln+/+) and heterozygous (Eln+/−) mice to apolipoprotein E wildtype (Apoe+/+) and knockout (Apoe−/−) mice and fed them normal diet (ND) or Western diet (WD) for 12 weeks. Eln+/− mice have increased arterial stiffness. Apoe−/− mice develop atherosclerosis on ND that is accelerated by WD. It has been reported that Apoe−/− mice have increased arterial stiffness and that the increased stiffness may play a role in atherosclerotic plaque progression. We found that Eln+/+Apoe−/− arterial stiffness is similar to Eln+/+Apoe+/+ mice at physiologic pressures, suggesting that changes in stiffness do not play a role in atherosclerotic plaque progression in Apoe−/− mice. We found that Eln+/−Apoe−/− mice have increased structural arterial stiffness compared to Eln+/+Apoe−/− mice, but they only have increased amounts of ascending aortic plaque on ND, not WD. The results suggest a change in atherosclerosis progression but not end stage disease in Eln+/−Apoe−/− mice due to increased arterial stiffness. Possible contributing factors include increased blood pressure and changes in circulating levels of interleukin-6 (IL6) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) that are also associated with Eln+/− genotype.
Issue Section:
Research Papers
Keywords:
Biomechanics
Topics:
Atherosclerosis,
Blood,
Carotid arteries,
Pressure,
Stiffness,
Aorta,
Diseases,
Stress,
Physiology
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