Alteration of elastic architecture in the lathyritic rat aorta implies the pathogenesis of aortic dissecting aneurysm.

Weanling Sprague-Dawley rats received beta-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) and/or hypertensive treatment, namely, heminephrectomy and administration of deoxycorticosterone acetate-NaCl. The BAPN-treated rats (lathyritic rats) died of dissecting aneurysm, and the victims with hypertensive treatment was greater in number and died earlier than those without the treatment, indicating that the rise of blood pressure promoted the onset of dissecting aneurysm. The elastic architecture of the ascending aortic media was examined not only by transmission electron microscopy with tannic acid stain and/or toluidine blue O stain, but also by scanning electron microscopy after hot formic acid treatment, and the area of interlaminar elastic fibers were morphometrically analyzed by a point counting method using transmission electron microscopic photographs. In the lathyritic rats, interlaminar elastic fibers showed a significant reduction compared with the control rats, and elastic fibers tended to become round-shaped and were frequently spotted with glycosaminoglycan, which suggest a disturbance of elastogenesis. On the other hand, elastic laminae were not disrupted and smooth muscle cells were well preserved. These results suggest that the alteration of the elastic architecture causes an unstable connection between each elastic lamina, and is related to the initiation and the progression of dissecting aneurysm.