title: Age-related changes in pial arterial structure and blood flow in mice.
abstract: Age-related cerebral blood flow decreases are thought to deteriorate cognition and cause senescence, although the related mechanism is unclear. To investigate the relationships between aging and changes in cerebral blood flow and vasculature, we obtained fluorescence images of young (2-month-old) and old (12-month-old) mice using indocyanine green (ICG). First, we found that the blood flow in old mice's brains is lower than that in young mice and that old mice had more curved pial arteries and fewer pial artery junctions than young mice. Second, using Western blotting, we determined that the ratio of collagen to elastin (related to cerebral vascular wall distensibility) increased with age. Finally, we found that the peak ICG intensity and blood flow index decreased, whereas the mean transit time increased, with age in the middle cerebral artery and superior sagittal sinus. Age-related changes in pial arterial structure and composition, concurrent with the observed changes in the blood flow parameters, suggest that age-related changes in the cerebral vasculature structure and distensibility may induce altered brain blood flow.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Science Institute, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Science Institute, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Inkyung
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Science Institute, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Junyang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Science Institute, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Joo-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Science Institute, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea. Electronic address: psychan@khu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Chan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D004549:Elastin / Q000378:metabolism; D007208:Indocyanine Green; D008297:Male; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D061848:Optical Imaging; D054063:Superior Sagittal Sinus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen; D004549:Elastin; D007208:Indocyanine Green
keywords: Aging; Cerebral blood flow; Cerebral blood flow measurement; Cerebral hemodynamics; Optical imaging