Fig. 2: CCBs (amlodipine, nifedipine, diltiazem, verapamil) aggravated thoracic aortic diameters in Ang II-induced aortic aneurysm mouse model.

a Experiment design. 16-week-old C57BL/6 J mice were infused with AngII (1000 ng/kg·min⁻¹) for 28 days. After 7 days of infusion, the mice were daily injected with vehicle, dihydropyridine CCBs [amlodipine (1 mg/kg/day) or nifedipine (20 mg/kg/day)], benzothiazepine CCB [diltiazem (8 mg/kg/day)], phenylalkylamine CCBs [verapamil (12 mg/kg/day)]. b SBP was measured by tail-cuff at −7, 0, 3, 7, 14, 21 days after vehicle/CCBs treatment. c–e Ultrasound-monitored maximal inner diameters of the aortic root, ascending aorta, and aortic arch at 0, 7, 14, 21 days. f Representative ultrasound images of thoracic aorta after 21 days of vehicle/CCB treatment. g–i Monitoring of rd-PWV and ascending aortic strain in mice at different time points by M-mode ultrasound. (g) Schematic illustration of calculation method. (h) rd-PWV. i Ascending aortic strain. j Representative ex vivo morphology of thoracic aortas. Scale bar=2 mm. k–m Maximal external diameters of ascending aorta (k), aortic arch (l), and descending aorta (m). Data presentation: Data in (b–e, h, i, k-m) are presented as mean ± SEM. For some points, SEM is smaller than the symbol size and not visually discernible. Each data point represents an individual mouse as a biological replicate with similar results. The initial sample sizes per group were: Saline + Vehicle (n = 7), AngII + Vehicle (n = 13), AngII + Amlodipine (n = 12), AngII + Nifedipine (n = 12), AngII + Diltiazem (n = 11), AngII + Verapamil (n = 11). Due to mortality during the experimental period, exact n at each time point is provided in the Source Data file. Statistical analysis: Two-sided one-way ANOVA with Dunnett multiple comparisons test, Brown-Forsythe and Welch ANOVA with Dunnett T3 multiple comparisons test or Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparisons was used as appropriate for (b-e, h, i) at different time points (detailed for each comparison in the Source Data file). *P < 0.05 vs. AngII + Vehicle group. Exact P-values for all comparisons are provided in the Source Data file. Statistical analysis of (k–m) were performed using two-sided Brown-Forsythe and Welch ANOVA with Dunnett T3 multiple comparisons test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. AngII angiotensin II, SBP systolic blood pressure, CCB calcium channel blocker, rd-PWV root to descending aorta pulse wave velocity.