Biomechanical Properties of the Aortic Wall: Changes during Vascular Calcification

Abstract

Medial vascular calcification (MAC) is characterized by the deposition of hydroxyapatite (HAP) in the medial layer of the vessel wall, leading to disruption of vessel integrity and vascular stiffness. Because currently no direct therapeutic interventions for MAC are available, studying the MAC pathogenesis is of high research interest. Several methods exist to measure and describe the pathophysiological processes in the vessel wall, such as histological staining and gene expression. However, no method describing the physiological properties of the arterial wall is currently available. This study aims to close that gap and validate a method to measure the biomechanical properties of the arterial wall during vascular calcification. Therefore, a stress–stretch curve is monitored using small-vessel-myography upon ex vivo calcification of rat aortic tissue. The measurement of biomechanical properties could help to gain further insights into vessel integrity during calcification progression.