title: Mathematical modeling of left ventricular dimensional changes in mice during aging.
abstract: Cardiac aging is characterized by diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle (LV), which is due in part to increased LV wall stiffness. In the diastolic phase, myocytes are relaxed and extracellular matrix (ECM) is a critical determinant to the changes of LV wall stiffness. To evaluate the effects of ECM composition on cardiac aging, we developed a mathematical model to predict LV dimension and wall stiffness changes in aging mice by integrating mechanical laws and our experimental results. We measured LV dimension, wall thickness, LV mass, and collagen content for wild type (WT) C57/BL6J mice of ages ranging from 7.3 months to those of 34.0 months. The model was established using the thick wall theory and stretch-induced tissue growth to an isotropic and homogeneous elastic composite with mixed constituents. The initial conditions of the simulation were set based on the data from the young mice. Matlab simulations of this mathematical model demonstrated that the model captured the major features of LV remodeling with age and closely approximated experimental results. Specifically, the temporal progression of the LV interior and exterior dimensions demonstrated the same trend and order-of-magnitude change as our experimental results. In conclusion, we present here a validated mathematical model of cardiac aging that applies the thick-wall theory and stretch-induced tissue growth to LV remodeling with age.
authors.affiliation: San Antonio Cardiovascular Proteomics Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Tianyi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ying Ann
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Chiao
authors.forename: Yunji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Voorhees
authors.forename: Hai-Chao
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Merry L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lindsey
authors.forename: Yu-Fang
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D051379:Mice; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009206:Myocardium; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000503:physiopathology; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen