Interlinkages in the tunica media of goat Aorta
Date
2010Author
Ogeng'o, Julius A
Malek, Adel Abdel
Kiama, S G
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The arrangement and interconnections between various components of the aortic wall influence its
physicomechanical properties and functional alterations that occur in disease and ageing. The goat is a suitable model for studying
cardiovascular disease, but details of the intrinsic organization of its aorta are unknown. This study therefore investigated the
histomorphology of aortic tunica media in the goat by transmission electron microscopy. Sixteen healthy juvenile and adult domestic
male goats (capra hircus) purchased from livestock farms in the outskirts of Nairobi were used in the study. The animals were euthanized
with overdose of sodium pentabarbitone 20mg/kg, and fixed with 3% phosphate buffered glutaraldehyde solution by gravimetric
perfusion. Specimens obtained from the thoracic aorta (T9) were post fixed in osmium tetroxide, and prepared for durcupan embedding.
Ultrathin sections stained with uranyl acetate/lead citrate were examined by EM 201 Phillips © electron microscope. Elastic and
collagen fibres were structurally interconnected. Elastic lamellae, collagen and elastic fibres were linked to smooth muscle cells
through areas of high electron density while smooth muscle cells were interconnected various inter cellular connections. The physical
interlinkages between the components of the tunica media confer plasticity, adaptability and flexibility to the aortic wall enabling it to
function as a mechanically homogenous structure. Disruptions of this structure in atherosclerosis and aging may disturb the vascular
integrity and predispose to aneurysm formation
Citation
Int. J. Morphol., 28(2):409-414, 2010Publisher
Department of Human Anatomy, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya