Abstract
The age-related increase in arterial stiffness of the human aorta is due not only to the relative decrease of elastin content but also to the disorganization and fragmentation of elastin fibres throughout the media. Sections from the descending aorta of ten human subjects aged 21-78 years were subjected to formic acid digestion and investigated by scanning electron microscopy to study the structural changes of the medical elastic architecture. Measurements of elastin lamellar thickness and interlamellar distance were taken along the cross-sectional and longitudinal planes and compared with those from undigested samples. Results showed that there was a significant increase of interlamellar distance and decrease of lamellar thickness with age and that these measurements are affected by prolonged digestion time and could depend on the plane of measurement.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 496-500 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Biomedical Engineering - Applications, Basis and Communications |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 1992 |
| Externally published | Yes |