Figure 7.

ROCK inhibition promoted re-endothelialization of stented arteries. (A–C) Endothelial injury in the left carotid artery was induced via repeated balloon angioplasty. A Coroflex™ stent was then deployed at the injured site. (A) En face staining of CD31 (green) and nuclei (To-Pro; purple) revealed an intact endothelial monolayer (left) in healthy arteries and loss of endothelium (dotted white lines) after balloon angioplasty (right). Data shown are representative of those obtained from n=5 animals in three independent experiments. (B and C) The influence on fluid dynamics was assessed. (B) A PDMS-based cast of the lumen of a stented carotid artery (left) and μCT (right) was performed to obtain a detailed geometry. (C) CFD predictions. Flow is from left to right. Upper panel shows WSS in the entire stented segment. Lower panel shows streamlines (white lines) for stent struts in relation to WSS in detail. Note high WSS at struts and low WSS corresponding to sites of recirculation downstream from struts. (D) The influence of fasudil on EC repair in stented arteries was determined using male Yorkshire White pigs. A portion of the carotid artery was denuded by balloon angioplasty prior to implantation of a Coroflex™ stent. Animals were treated using an osmotic pump containing either saline (vehicle group; n = 5 group size) or fasudil (n = 5 group size; 30 mg/day) for 3 days. EC coverage of the stented segment was determined by en face staining for CD31 followed by confocal microscopy. Representative images are shown with stent struts depicted with a broken white line (upper panels; scale bar=100μm). The percentage of EC coverage over stent struts was calculated for n = 5 animals per group. Data were pooled and mean values +/− SEM are presented with individual data points (lower panel). Differences between means were analysed using an unpaired t-test.