Applying Fractal Dimension and Image Analysis to Quantify Fibrotic Collagen Deposition and Organization in the Normal and Hypertensive Heart

Hearts of mice with reduction of function mutation in STAT3 (SA/SA) develop fibrotic collagen foci and reduced systolic function with hypertension. This model was used to determine if fractal dimension and image analysis can provide a quantitative description of myocardial fibrosis using routinely p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microscopy and microanalysis 2014-08, Vol.20 (4), p.1134-1144
Main Authors: Zouein, Fouad A., Kurdi, Mazen, Booz, George W., Fuseler, John W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Applications
Blood pressure
Cell death
Collagen
Collagen - analysis
Euclidean space
Fibrosis - pathology
Fractals
Heart - anatomy & histology
Heart failure
Hypertension
Hypertension - complications
Laboratory animals
Mice
Morphology
Mutation
Myocardium - pathology
Optical Imaging
Wound healing
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Hearts of mice with reduction of function mutation in STAT3 (SA/SA) develop fibrotic collagen foci and reduced systolic function with hypertension. This model was used to determine if fractal dimension and image analysis can provide a quantitative description of myocardial fibrosis using routinely prepared trichome-stained material. Collagen was characterized by relative density [integrated optical density/area (IOD/A)] and fractal dimension (D), an index of complexity. IOD/A of collagen in wild type mice increased with hypertension while D decreased, suggesting tighter collagen packing that could eventually stiffen the myocardium as in diastolic heart failure. Reduced STAT3 function caused modest collagen fibrosis with increased IOD/A and D, indicating more tightly packed, but more disorganized collagen than normotensive and hypertensive controls. Hypertension in SA/SA mice resulted in large regions where myocytes were lost and replaced by fibrotic collagen characterized by decreased density and increased disorder. This indicates that collagen associated with reparative fibrosis in SA/SA hearts experiencing hypertension was highly disorganized and more space filling. Loss of myocytes and their replacement by disordered collagen fibers may further weaken the myocardium leading to systolic heart failure. Our findings highlight the utility of image analysis in revealing importance of a cellular protein for normal and reparative extracellular matrix deposition.
ISSN:1431-9276
1435-8115
DOI:10.1017/S1431927614001044