Figure 1.

Omental small arteries from hypertensive subjects are stiffer and have greater cofilin phosphorylation and F-actin content than those from non-hypertensives. Small arteries were isolated from omental samples of subjects undergoing elective abdominal surgery and subsequently cannulated in pressure myography systems. A, Pressure-internal diameter curves, pressure-percent minimal diameter curves, strain-stress curves, Young’s moduli of elasticity (MofE), incremental moduli of elasticity (Inc_MofE), and calculated pulse wave velocities (cPWV) of arteries under calcium-free passive conditions obtained from non-hypertensive and hypertensive subjects. B, Representative images of small arteries from non-hypertensive and hypertensive subjects stained for detection of nuclei (blue) p-cofilin (green), total-cofilin (red), F-actin (yellow) and stain-free collagen (magenta); bar=30μm. C, Comparison of nuclei, p-cofilin / total-cofilin, F-actin and collagen content between small arteries from non-hypertensive and hypertensive subjects. Data are expressed as means ± SEM. *P<0.05 vs. non-hypertensives, n=7–15/group.