Table 2.
n=7/Group | No CVS GFP | No CVS siRNA | CVS GFP | CVS siRNA |
---|---|---|---|---|
Luminal Circumference, mm | 4.967±0.058 | 5.135±0.058 | 4.897±0.069 | 4.893±0.019* |
Luminal area, mm2 | 1.694±0.035 | 1.786±0.037 | 1.619±0.037 | 1.550±0.089* |
Media thickness, mm | 0.107±0.001 | 0.108±0.002 | 0.113±0.001† | 0.114±0.001* , ‡ |
Media:lumen area | 0.341±0.009 | 0.335±0.014 | 0.381±0.005† | 0.392±0.024* , ‡ |
Adventitia collagen (% area) | 66.930±1.320 | 66.820±0.893 | 71.49±0.313† | 70.86±0.659* , ‡ |
Adventitia thickness, mm | 0.040±0.001 | 0.037±0.002 | 0.036±0.002 | 0.034±0.001‡ |
Heart weight, g | 1.264±0.018 | 1.266±0.038 | 1.321±0.028† | 1.365±0.025* , ‡ |
Heart weight/body weight (×100) | 0.335±0.005 | 0.340±0.009 | 0.355±0.007 | 0.366±0.007‡ |
Myocyte surface area, μm2 | 349.930±18.701 | 352.091±11.664 | 396.888 ±18.842† | 406.841±8.527* , ‡ |
Myocardial collagen (% area) | 0.429±0.013 | 0.449±0.023 | 0.479±0.042 | 0.459±0.016 |
Histological quantification of vascular and myocardial structure. Dimensions of the lumen and media were quantified from elastin staining. Adventitial size and fibrosis were determined from collagen staining. Myocyte surface area was measured with membrane labeling and cardiac fibrosis was queried via collagen staining. There were no effects of small interfering RNA alone. Chronic variable stress increased media thickness, adventitial collagen, and myocyte size. In contrast, CVS siRNA tissue exhibited alterations in all structural end points assessed except myocardial fibrosis. CVS indicates chronic variable stress; GFP, green fluorescent protein; siRNA, small interfering RNA.
*P<0.05 CVS siRNA vs No CVS siRNA; † P<0.05 CVS GFP vs No CVS GFP, ‡ P<0.05 CVS siRNA vs No CVS GFP.