title: Pulse wave velocity and age- and gender-dependent aortic wall hardening in fowl.
abstract: Before sexual maturation, chickens (Gallus gallus) show high blood pressure (BP) and neointimal plaques in the lower abdominal aortae (AbA). We investigated age/sex-related changes in pulse wave velocity (PWV), elastin, collagen, and protein levels in AbA, and cardiac morphology to determine whether PWV increases during incremental increases in BP of maturing fowl, while arterial stiffness becomes dominant with aging. PWV (m/s) was significantly greater in male chicks (6-7 weeks, 9.3+/-0.8; females, 6.1+/-0.5) and remained high in cockerels (13 weeks), young (27-28 weeks), and adults (44-66 weeks). PWV increased in prepubertal pullets (10.0+/-0.9), dropped significantly in young hens, and remained low in adults. In contrast, medial thickness, protein levels, and collagen levels increased, while elastin/collagen ratios decreased, with maturation/aging. Males had heavier ventricular mass and thicker ventricular walls than females at all ages; left ventricular thickness decreased with maturation/aging. Thus, sustained high BP may have caused progressive medial hypertrophy, increased aortic rigidity, and enlarged hearts with left ventricular dilation. PWV of AbA was already greater in male chicks at an age when both sexes have similar collagen levels and low protein levels, suggesting that a factor other than structural stiffness may be an important determinant of PWV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Ciro A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Feria
authors.forename: Yimu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Donald B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Thomason
authors.forename: Jarred
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Guibin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishimura
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001835:Body Weight; D002645:Chickens / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors
references.citation: Artery. 1980;7(6):448-63
references.pmid: 7236015
references.citation: Circulation. 1968 Jun;37(6):954-64
references.pmid: 5653055
references.citation: Circ Res. 1998 May 4;82(8):879-90
references.pmid: 9576107
references.citation: J Hum Hypertens. 2001 Aug;15(8):511-8
references.pmid: 11494087
references.citation: Am J Physiol. 1995 Oct;269(4 Pt 2):R914-22
references.pmid: 7485611
references.citation: J Endocrinol. 1977 Dec;75(3):447-8
references.pmid: 591858
references.citation: J Vasc Res. 2002 May-Jun;39(3):191-207
references.pmid: 12097818
references.citation: J Hypertens. 2006 Mar;24(3):563-71
references.pmid: 16467660
references.citation: Hypertension. 1999 Oct;34(4 Pt 1):598-602
references.pmid: 10523333
references.citation: Poult Sci. 1999 Mar;78(3):392-403
references.pmid: 10090267
references.citation: Hypertension. 2001 May;37(5):1236-41
references.pmid: 11358934
references.citation: Circulation. 2007 Aug 7;116(6):669-76
references.pmid: 17664374
references.citation: Circ Res. 1970 Apr;26(4):507-22
references.pmid: 5435712
references.citation: Circ Res. 1968 Oct;23(4):567-79
references.pmid: 5677947
references.citation: Atherosclerosis. 1976 Jan-Feb;23(1):111-6
references.pmid: 1078392
references.citation: Am J Physiol. 1993 May;264(5 Pt 2):R903-11
references.pmid: 8498599
references.citation: Atherosclerosis. 2003 Feb;166(2):303-9
references.pmid: 12535743
references.citation: Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2000 Feb;278(2):H428-34
references.pmid: 10666072
references.citation: Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2004 Feb;137(2):311-20
references.pmid: 15123204
references.citation: Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2001 Aug;130(1):39-54
references.pmid: 11672682
references.citation: Hypertension. 2002 Jan;39(1):10-5
references.pmid: 11799071
references.citation: Circ Res. 2000 Nov 10;87(10):840-4
references.pmid: 11073878
references.citation: Br J Pharmacol. 2006 Apr;147(8):944-50
references.pmid: 16491102
references.citation: Am J Physiol. 1983 Oct;245(4):H567-72
references.pmid: 6624925
references.citation: Atherosclerosis. 2006 Jan;184(1):137-42
references.pmid: 15913634
references.citation: Arch Biochem Biophys. 1961 May;93:440-7
references.pmid: 13786180
references.citation: Hypertension. 1981 May-Jun;3(3 Pt 2):I41-9
references.pmid: 6266958
references.citation: J Hypertens Suppl. 1999 Dec;17(5):S41-4
references.pmid: 10706325
references.citation: Poult Sci. 2000 Nov;79(11):1645-9
references.pmid: 11092340
references.citation: Am J Hypertens. 2002 May;15(5):426-44
references.pmid: 12022246
references.citation: Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2001 Dec;28(12):1011-4
references.pmid: 11903305
references.citation: J Hum Hypertens. 2005 Sep;19(9):731-5
references.pmid: 15920453
references.citation: Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 1998 May;18(5):677-85
references.pmid: 9598824
references.citation: Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2006 May;290(5):H1788-97
references.pmid: 16306215
references.citation: Hypertension. 2001 Dec 1;38(6):1395-9
references.pmid: 11751724
references.citation: Poult Sci. 1981 Oct;60(10):2337-41
references.pmid: 7329914
references.citation: Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2005 Jul;61(5-6):353-9
references.pmid: 15918057
references.citation: Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2004 Dec;287(6):R1486-93
references.pmid: 15319217
references.citation: Pathol Biol (Paris). 1999 Sep;47(7):738-43
references.pmid: 10522264
references.citation: Circulation. 1996 Feb 1;93(3):577-84
references.pmid: 8565178
references.citation: Atherosclerosis. 2006 Feb;184(2):363-9
references.pmid: 15936762