Abstract
Women have a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease compared to men until after menopause when the risk is similar between men and women. The mechanism for cardioprotective effect is unclear. In order to study the physiological changes which occur in the cardiovascular system of women after menopause it is necessary to identify animal models. One model of post‐menopausal physiology is the aged spontaneously hypertensive female rats (SHR). The endocrine and blood pressure changes have been previously reported by Reckelhoff and colleagues. However, the vascular changes have not been characterized. The purpose of this study was to characterize the vascular behavior of coronary arteries in the aged female SHR. Septal coronary arteries were isolated from old and young SHR and studied in a pressure arteriograph. Active and passive diameters were measured over a range of pressures ranging from 10 to 100mmHg. Percent tone was calculated (1‐(Dactive‐Dpassive)*100%) at each pressure step. At each pressure step from 20–100 mmHg the percent tone was greater in the old SHR (19.8 + 1.5%) compared to young female SHR (7.7+ 0.2%). These results indicate that the aged SHR can be used as a model to study post‐menopausal increases in the coronary vascular reactivity.Funded by NIH R15HL097343
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
