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Length‐tension relationship of human thoracic ducts
Author(s) -
Telinius Niklas,
Drewsen Nanna,
KoldPetersen Henrik,
Pilegaard Hans,
Leval Marc,
Aalkjaer Christian,
Hjortdal Vibeke,
Briggs Boedtkjer Donna
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.764.9
Subject(s) - myograph , isometric exercise , tension (geology) , anatomy , muscle tension , thoracic duct , medicine , biomedical engineering , materials science , surgery , pathology , composite material , artery , compression (physics) , lymphatic system , physical medicine and rehabilitation
Active force produced in vessels is directly related to smooth muscle length. Length‐tension relationship is important for characterization of vessels in vitro. We here present a length‐tension curve of isolated human thoracic ducts. Materials and methods Thoracic ducts were harvested from 10 patients undergoing esophageal cancer surgery at the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, University Hospital in Aarhus. The vessels were freed from any surrounding tissue and cut into 2 mm long segments and mounted in a wire myograph for isometric recordings. We used a 10 μM noradrenaline in a K‐PSS (123mM K) solution as an activator to produce maximum force. Results Length‐tension relationship was determined from non linear regression fits. Fig 1 shows length‐tension relationship from 45 vessel segments from 10 vessels (n=10). The vessels produced an average total and passive tension of 10.79 and 3.19 N/m, equaling a pressure of 65 ± 7 and 20.8 ± 3 mmHg according to Laplace's law. Conclusion We have shown it is possible to harvest the thoracic duct from humans and perform in vitro experiments. By using a passive normalization procedure we can now quickly determine the diameter which produces maximal active tension. The results are fundamental for our further physiological and pharmacological studies of these vessels. This research was funded by the Danish Research Council