Contribution of collagen, elastin, and smooth muscle to in vivo human brachial artery wall stress and elastic modulus

• Published in: Circulation (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 1996-12, Vol.94 (12), p.3263-3270
• Main Authors: BANK, A. J, WANG, H, HOLTE, J. E, MULLEN, K, SHAMMAS, R, KUBO, S. H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Pressure; Blood vessels and receptors; Brachial Artery - diagnostic imaging; Brachial Artery - drug effects; Brachial Artery - physiology; Collagen - physiology; Elasticity; Elastin - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Injections, Intra-Arterial; Middle Aged; Models, Cardiovascular; Muscle Contraction - drug effects; Muscle Contraction - physiology; Muscle Relaxation - drug effects; Muscle Tonus; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - diagnostic imaging; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - drug effects; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - physiology; Nitroglycerin - administration & dosage; Nitroglycerin - pharmacology; Norepinephrine - administration & dosage; Norepinephrine - pharmacology; Reference Values; Stress, Mechanical; Ultrasonography; Vertebrates: cardiovascular system
• ISSN: 0009-7322; 1524-4539
• DOI: 10.1161/01.cir.94.12.3263

The contributions of collagen, elastin, and smooth muscle to arterial mechanical properties in the in vivo human artery are not known. We used a recently developed intravascular ultrasound technique to measure total brachial artery wall stress and incremental elastic modulus (Einc) in seven normal human subjects at baseline and after intra-arterial norepinephrine (1.2 micrograms) and nitroglycerin (100 micrograms). Then we applied a modified Maxwell model to estimate the elastic modulus of elastin (EE); the recruitment of collagen fibers supporting wall stress; and the differential contributions of collagen, elastin, and smooth muscle to wall stress and Einc over a wide range of pressure and smooth muscle tone. With this model, EE was 3 x 10(6) dynes/cm2. Collagen fibers were recruited increasingly as transmural arterial pressure increased and reached a value of approximately 5% to 6% at 100 mm Hg under each of the conditions studied. Isobaric smooth muscle contraction resulted in a small decrease in total wall stress and no significant change in total Einc while shifting the predominant element contributing to these mechanical parameters from collagen in parallel with the smooth muscle to collagen in series with the smooth muscle. In contrast, isometric smooth muscle contraction produced large increases in total wall stress (from 0.11 x 10(6) dynes/cm2 after nitroglycerin administration to 1.35 x 10(6) dynes/cm2 after norepinephrine administration) and Einc (from 3.84 x 10(6) dynes/cm2 after nitroglycerin administration to 57.8 x 10(6) dynes/cm2 after norepinephrine administration) entirely as a result of the additional contribution of the smooth muscle and its associated series collagen. This study describes a technique for determining arterial elastic properties and a model that can be used to estimate a number of mechanical parameters of the human brachial artery in vivo. This technique may be useful in studies of the arterial elastic properties of arteries in patients with vascular pathology.