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The effect of microvascular pattern alterations on network resistance in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing volume 50, pages 585–593 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Structural microvascular rarefaction, defined by a loss of vessels, is a common characteristic of hypertension and has been associated with elevated microvascular resistance. However, determining the causal relationship between microvascular network structure and resistance requires a consideration of all pattern changes throughout a network. The objectives of this study were to determine whether microvascular rarefaction is associated with other network pattern alterations and to evaluate whether pattern alterations in hypertension necessarily contribute to increased microvascular resistance. Mesenteric tissues from age-matched (15–16 weeks) male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were harvested and immunolabeled for PECAM. SHR networks displayed a decreased microvascular area, arteriolar-venular (AV) length, number of AV branches, and number of capillary segments. In addition, SHR networks displayed increased AV connections per network compared to WKY networks. Based on network geometries, resistance per network was calculated using a computational model. For simulations with equal vessel diameter and with relative diameters based on reported intravital measurements, SHR microvascular network resistance was not elevated compared to the WKY level. Our results suggest that microvascular pattern alterations associated with hypertension are more complex than vessel loss, and that these combined alterations do not necessarily lead to elevated resistance.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Tulane Hypertension and Renal Center of Excellence funded by NIH grant P20RR017659-08 (PI: L. Gabriel Navar).

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  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA

    Ming Yang & Walter L. Murfee

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  1. Ming Yang
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Correspondence to Walter L. Murfee.

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Yang, M., Murfee, W.L. The effect of microvascular pattern alterations on network resistance in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Med Biol Eng Comput 50, 585–593 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-012-0912-x

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Keywords

  • Microcirculation
  • Rarefaction
  • Hypertension
  • Mesentery
  • Resistance
  • SHR