Pulse wave velocity and age- and gender-dependent aortic wall hardening in fowl.
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.
Ruiz-Feria
Ciro A
CA
Department of Physiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
Yang
Yimu
Y
Thomason
Donald B
DB
White
Jarred
J
Su
Guibin
G
Nishimura
Hiroko
H
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
Artery. 1980;7(6):448-63
7236015
Circulation. 1968 Jun;37(6):954-64
5653055
Circ Res. 1998 May 4;82(8):879-90
9576107
J Hum Hypertens. 2001 Aug;15(8):511-8
11494087
Am J Physiol. 1995 Oct;269(4 Pt 2):R914-22
7485611
J Endocrinol. 1977 Dec;75(3):447-8
591858
J Vasc Res. 2002 May-Jun;39(3):191-207
12097818
J Hypertens. 2006 Mar;24(3):563-71
16467660
Hypertension. 1999 Oct;34(4 Pt 1):598-602
10523333
Poult Sci. 1999 Mar;78(3):392-403
10090267
Hypertension. 2001 May;37(5):1236-41
11358934
Circulation. 2007 Aug 7;116(6):669-76
17664374
Circ Res. 1970 Apr;26(4):507-22
5435712
Circ Res. 1968 Oct;23(4):567-79
5677947
Atherosclerosis. 1976 Jan-Feb;23(1):111-6
1078392
Am J Physiol. 1993 May;264(5 Pt 2):R903-11
8498599
Atherosclerosis. 2003 Feb;166(2):303-9
12535743
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2000 Feb;278(2):H428-34
10666072
Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2004 Feb;137(2):311-20
15123204
Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2001 Aug;130(1):39-54
11672682
Hypertension. 2002 Jan;39(1):10-5
11799071
Circ Res. 2000 Nov 10;87(10):840-4
11073878
Br J Pharmacol. 2006 Apr;147(8):944-50
16491102
Am J Physiol. 1983 Oct;245(4):H567-72
6624925
Atherosclerosis. 2006 Jan;184(1):137-42
15913634
Arch Biochem Biophys. 1961 May;93:440-7
13786180
Hypertension. 1981 May-Jun;3(3 Pt 2):I41-9
6266958
J Hypertens Suppl. 1999 Dec;17(5):S41-4
10706325
Poult Sci. 2000 Nov;79(11):1645-9
11092340
Am J Hypertens. 2002 May;15(5):426-44
12022246
Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2001 Dec;28(12):1011-4
11903305
J Hum Hypertens. 2005 Sep;19(9):731-5
15920453
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 1998 May;18(5):677-85
9598824
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2006 May;290(5):H1788-97
16306215
Hypertension. 2001 Dec 1;38(6):1395-9
11751724
Poult Sci. 1981 Oct;60(10):2337-41
7329914
Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2005 Jul;61(5-6):353-9
15918057
Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2004 Dec;287(6):R1486-93
15319217
Pathol Biol (Paris). 1999 Sep;47(7):738-43
10522264
Circulation. 1996 Feb 1;93(3):577-84
8565178
Atherosclerosis. 2006 Feb;184(2):363-9
15936762