Figure 1
From: Estrogenic vascular effects are diminished by chronological aging
Aging alters the vasoactive and passive structural characteristics of murine uterine arteries. For the vasoactive experiments, uterine arteries from 3- (n = 26), 24- (n = 10), and 29-month-old (n = 5) mice were mounted on a wire myograph and exposed to the thromboxane agonist U4 (10−6M, A). Following steady-state constriction, endothelium-dependent relaxation was assessed by the addition of acetylcholine (10−5M, B). *P < 0.05 from young mice (ordinary one-way ANOVA). For the assessment of passive structural characteristics, separate uterine arteries from 3- (n = 5), 24- (n = 7), and 29-month-old (n = 4) mice were mounted on a pressure myograph and measurements of (C) vessel diameter and wall thickness were used to calculate (D) wall: lumen ratio, (E) cross-sectional area (CSA), (F) vessel stress and (G) strain at each pressure step (0–120 mmHg) in calcium-free conditions. P < 0.05 from 24-month-old mice (Ø) or 29-month-old mice (∆) (repeated measures two-way ANOVA). Vessel stress was plotted against vessel strain to assess the stress: strain relationship, which is used to ascertain arterial distensibility (H). E = Elastic modulus. *P < 0.05 from young mice (unpaired t-test). Data are presented as mean ± SEM.
