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Morphological and biomechanical remodelling of the hepatic artery in a swine model of portal hypertension

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Abstract

Objectives

To obtain the biomechanical and morphological remodelling of hepatic arteries in swine with portal hypertension.

Methods

A number of 20 white pigs was used, of which 14 were subjected to liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension (PHT) induced by carbon tetrachloride and pentobarbital; the rest were used as the control group. The biomechanical remodelling of the hepatic arteries was measured, namely, the incremental elastic modulus (E inc), pressure–strain elastic modulus (E p), volume elastic modulus (E v), the incremental compliance (C), the opening angle and the stained microstructural components of the vessels.

Results

The percentages for the microstructural components and the histologic data significantly changed in the experimental group, three incremental elastic moduli (E inc, E p, and E v) of the experimental group were significantly larger than those of the control group (P < 0.05); the compliance of hepatic arteries decreased greatly (P < 0.05) too. The opening angle (OA) was considerably larger than that of control group (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

The study suggests that the morphological and biomechanical properties of swine hepatic arteries have changed significantly during the process of portal hypertension and that from biomechanical aspects, the hepatic arteries have also suffered from extensive remodelling, which in turn deteriorates the existing portal hypertension.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Education Department of Hubei Province Foundation (D200524002 and D20102103).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China

    Xi-Ju He, Ming-Hua Yu, Wen-Chun Li, Han-Qin Wang, Jing Li, Xing-Chun Peng, Jie Tang, Na Feng & Tie-Zhu Huang

  2. Department of Medical Oncology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China

    Ming-Hua Yu

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  1. Xi-Ju He
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Correspondence to Tie-Zhu Huang.

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He, XJ., Yu, MH., Li, WC. et al. Morphological and biomechanical remodelling of the hepatic artery in a swine model of portal hypertension. Hepatol Int 6, 631–638 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-011-9302-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-011-9302-y

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