Evaluation of coronary artery hemodynamics and its relationship with atherosclerosis in west diet fed LDL‐R knockout mice by ultrasound bio‐microscopy / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

To evaluate the relationship between atherosclerosis and hemodynamic of coronary artery in mice detecting by ultrasound bio‐microscopy flow imaging . Methods Double 14 20‐week‐old LDL‐R‐/‐and C57BL/6 male mice were selected ,and randomly divided into two groups in each genotype according to weight . Each two groups were fed to 28 weeks or 36 weeks age respectively with west diet . Coronary artery hemodynamics in these mice were assessed in vivo by Vevo ?2100 ultrasound imaging system ,then the intima‐media thickness( IM T ) of aorta in histopathology were analyzed . T he differences of coronary artery hemodynamic parameters such as maximum velocity ( Vmax ) ,mean velocity ( Vmean) and velocity time integral ( V T I) were compared between mice of different genotypes of the same week and mice of different weeks of the same genotype . And the relationship between coronary artery hemodynamic in ultrasound and aortic IM T in histopathology were analyzed . Results ① All coronary hemodynamic parameters in LDL‐R‐/‐ mice were significantly lower than those of wild‐type mice except the Vmax between two 28‐week‐old genotypes group at the same weeks of age of different genotypes ( all P ＜0 .05) . But there was no significant difference in coronary artery hemodynamic parameters between mice of the same genotype at different weeks of age( P ＞0 .05) . ②T he histopathological measurements of aortic IM T in LDL‐R‐/‐mice were significantly higher than those of wild type mice ( all P ＜ 0 .05 ) ,and those of 36‐week‐old mice were significantly higher than those of 28‐week‐old mice ( all P ＜ 0 .05 ) . ③ All coronary hemodynamic parameters such as Vmax ,Vmean and V TI were negatively correlated with pathological measurements of aortic IM T ( r ＝ －0 .532 , －0 .423 , －0 .524 ; all P ＜ 0 .05 ) . Conclusions The parameters of coronary artery hemodynamics obtained by ultrasound bio‐microscopy are well correlated with the pathological results of atherosclerosis . Ultrasound bio‐microscopic flow imaging can be used as a new method to evaluate the degree of atherosclerosis in mice by detecting the hemodynamic parameters of coronary artery .