Premium
Morphological Analyses of the Arterial Supply to the Brain
Author(s) -
Kyle Emily G M,
Hachinski Vladimir,
Ramsay David A,
Rogers Kem A
Publication year - 2016
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.30.1_supplement.557.2
Subject(s) - anatomy , adventitia , medicine , cerebral arteries , tunica media , cardiology , carotid arteries
Stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in North America. Specifically, lacunar infarcts – occurring within deeper cortical regions of the brain – account for up to 25% of all stroke incidence. These regions of the brain are supplied by short penetrating arteries (SPAs) that arise perpendicularly from their main arterial supply, such as the lateral lenticulostriate arteries which supply part of the basal ganglia. The penetrating arteries travel only a short distance before their systolic pressure must be reduced to capillary pressure. In contrast, the long circumferential arteries (LCAs) that supply the superficial cerebral cortex have a long course and oblique branching pattern, which permits a more gradual reduction in intraluminal pressure as the capillary bed is approached. This study compares the morphological design of the short vessels and the longer circumferential vessels to determine whether their structure reflects their different vascular pressure dynamics. Objective The objective of this study is to quantitatively assess the morphology of the SPAs and LCAs. Methods Histological sections from the cortex, mammillary bodies and brainstem were stained with Masson's trichrome and scanned with an Aperio ScanScope AT Turbo at 40x. Using Aperio ImageScope, four arterial measurements were obtained from an average of 40 vessels per section: thickness of the tunica adventitia; combined breadth of the tunica intima and media; luminal diameter; and the arterial luminal circumference. Results The preliminary results indicate that, in general, arteries at the brain base and adjacent to the brainstem (i.e., the SPAs) have a thicker tunica adventitia and a wider lumen as compared to the LCAs that supply the cortex. The ratio of tunica adventitia: tunica intima + tunica media is approximately 1.6 times higher for the basilar and rhombencephalic SPAs than the cortical LCAs. The ratio of luminal diameter: tunica intima + media is approximately 1.5 times higher for SPAs as compared to LCAs. Conclusion We have demonstrated a reliable quantitative method to assess cerebral arteries and have shown clear differences between the morphology of the SPAs and LCAs. This method is now being used to investigate age‐related arterial changes and the relationship between vessel morphology and various diseases, including hypertension and whether or not there are lacunar infarcts.