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Contractions Reverse Stress Softening in Rat Esophagus

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Abstract

Strain/stress induced tissue softening is usually referred to irreversible softening. The aim of this study was to investigate whether stress softening in rat esophagus is reversible after potassium chloride (KCl) induced contraction. Three series of inflation–deflation loadings were carried out on esophageal specimens obtained from 20 Wistar rats. All specimens were subjected to the first two series in Ca2+-free Krebs solution(Krebs−) and then incubated in Ca2+-containing Krebs solution (Krebs+) for 1 h. Ten specimens were distended to pressure 1.0 kPa and activated with KCl for 3 min. The other ten specimens, however, were distended to 1.0 kPa without KCl activation. Subsequently, after incubation in Krebs− for 1 h, all 20 specimens were subjected to the third series testing. The stored energy in the esophageal tissues (hysteresis loop area) and the esophageal wall stiffness were compared between two groups within the three series loadings. Results indicated that incubation in Krebs+ cannot recover the stress softening induced energy and stiffness loss, but in contrast, these loss were recovered markedly (p < 0.05) after KCl activation. In conclusion, stress softening in rat esophagus is reversible after the activation of KCl-induced contractions. This mechanism could be related to regeneration of tissue properties in rat esophagus.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30970721, 31370949) as well as the National “111 plan” Base (B06023) and the Public Experiment Centre of State Bioindustry Base (Chongqing), China.

Conflict of interest

There is no issue of conflict of interest for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education, Bioengineering College of Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

    Hongbo Jiang, Guixue Wang & Hans Gregersen

  2. Giome Academia, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

    Donghua Liao & Jingbo Zhao

  3. Mech-Sense, Department of Gastroenterology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark

    Donghua Liao & Jingbo Zhao

  4. Center for Mechanosensation, Bioengineering College, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

    Donghua Liao, Jingbo Zhao & Hans Gregersen

  5. The Giome Institute, GIOME FZE, Ra’s al Khaymah, UAE

    Hans Gregersen

Authors
  1. Hongbo Jiang
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  2. Donghua Liao
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  3. Jingbo Zhao
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  4. Guixue Wang
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  5. Hans Gregersen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guixue Wang.

Additional information

Associate Editor K. A. Athanasiou oversaw the review of this article.

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Jiang, H., Liao, D., Zhao, J. et al. Contractions Reverse Stress Softening in Rat Esophagus. Ann Biomed Eng 42, 1717–1728 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-014-1015-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-014-1015-7

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