Detection of aortic arch calcification in apolipoprotein E-null mice using carbon nanotube-based micro-CT system.

Autor: Wait JM; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7510, USA., Tomita H, Burk LM, Lu J, Zhou OZ, Maeda N, Lee YZ
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of the American Heart Association [J Am Heart Assoc] 2013 Feb 22; Vol. 2 (1), pp. e003358. Date of Electronic Publication: 2013 Feb 22.
DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.112.003358
Abstrakt: Background: We performed in vivo micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging using a novel carbon nanotube (CNT)-based x-ray source to detect calcification in the aortic arch of apolipoprotein E (apoE)-null mice.
Methods and Results: We measured calcification volume of aortic arch plaques using CNT-based micro-CT in 16- to 18-month-old males on 129S6/SvEvTac and C57BL/6J genetic backgrounds (129-apoE KO and B6-apoE KO). Cardiac and respiratory gated images were acquired in each mouse under anesthesia. Images obtained using a CNT micro-CT had less motion blur and better spatial resolution for aortic calcification than those using conventional micro-CT, evaluated by edge sharpness (slope of the normalized attenuation units, 1.6±0.3 versus 0.8±0.2) and contrast-to-noise ratio of the calcifications (118±34 versus 10±2); both P<0.05, n=6. Calcification volume in the arch inner curvature was 4 times bigger in the 129-apoE KO than in the B6-apoE KO mice (0.90±0.18 versus 0.22±0.10 mm(3), P<0.01, n=7 and 5, respectively), whereas plaque areas in the inner curvature measured in dissected aorta were only twice as great in the 129-apoE KO than in the B6-apoE KO mice (6.1±0.6 versus 3.7±0.4 mm(2), P<0.05). Consistent with this, histological calcification area in the plaques was significantly higher in the 129-apoE KO than in the B6-apoE KO mice (16.9±2.0 versus 9.6±0.8%, P<0.05, 3 animals for each).
Conclusions: A novel CNT-based micro-CT is a useful tool to evaluate vascular calcifications in living mice. Quantification from acquired images suggests higher susceptibility to calcification of the aortic arch plaques in 129-apoE KO than in B6-apoE KO mice.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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