Allelic modulation of mesenteric artery mechanical properties in young and adult APOE3 and APOE4 mice

Previous studies from our lab have demonstrated age-related changes in vascular structure/function in posterior cerebral arteries (PCA) and left common carotid artery (CA) in male and female mice expressing human-ApoE targeted replacement of APOE3 (B6.129P2-Apoetm2(APOE*3)MaeN8) and APOE4 (B6.129P2-Apoetm3(APOE*4)Mae N8) (Taconic Labs). Therefore, we hypothesized that similar changes may be observed in the peripheral circulation. We isolated 3rd-order mesenteric arteries (MA) from young (Y, 3 to 4 mo) and adult (A, 7 to 10 mo), male and female mice expressing hPOE3 and hAPOE4. Mesenteric artery segments (5-8 mm in length) were isolated and cannulated on an arteriograph to assess vascular mechanical properties (lumen diameter (LD), wall thickness (WT), wall cross-sectional area (CSA), wall:lumen ratio (WL), distensibility (Dist), and stress/strain (SvS) under passive conditions (Ca2+-free Krebs + diltiazem) at intraluminal pressures ranging from 10-140 mmHg. Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA, Student’s t-test, and analysis of nonlinear fit. Values were considered statistically different at P<0.05. Our data indicate that LD was greater in YE4 compared to YE3 mice (P<0.05), but was smaller in AE4 compared to AE3 mice (P<0.05). WT and WL was greater in YE3 mice compared to YE4 mice (P<0.05), but greater in AE4 compared to AE3 mice (P<0.05). While Dist was similar between YE3 and YE4 mice, AE4 mice exhibited less Dist than AE3 mice (P<0.05). Interestingly, distensibility increased between YE3 and AE3 mice (P<0.05), but was not significantly different between YE4 and AE4 mice. While compliance was similar between YE3 and YE4 mice, and similar between AE3 and AE4 mice, AE4 mice displayed decreased compliance compared to YE4 mice. No difference was seen between YE3 and AE3 mice. Wall stress was greater in YE4 mice compared to YE3 mice, but smaller in AE4 mice compared to AE3 mice (P<0.05), and an analogous pattern was observed in Einc for young and adult mice (P<0.05). These data indicate contrasting patterns of age-related vascular changes between allelotypes. Furthermore, these preliminary findings suggest that MA from A E4 mice exhibit a trend toward a hypertensive phenotype. Support: ABRC/ADHS18-205211 (DME, CBJ), Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium (funded by the Arizona Department of Health Services, Contract No. CTR040636) and matching funds from Midwestern University (DME), Biomedical Sciences Program (JF, KW, JD, DME), Biomedical Sciences Start-up Funds (DME) This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.