Articles in PresS. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol (April 4, 2008). doi:10.1152/ajpheart.91431.2007
1 Mouse Heart Valve Structure and Function: Echocardiographic and Morphometric Analyses from the Fetus through the Aged Adult
Robert B. Hinton Jr1, Christina M. Alfieri2, Sandra A. Witt1, Betty J. Glascock1, Philip R. Khoury1, D. Woodrow Benson1 and Katherine E. Yutzey2
Divisions of Cardiology1 and Molecular Cardiovascular Biology2, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Running head: Mouse Heart Valve Structure and Function
Correspondence:
Robert B. Hinton, Jr., MD Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Division of Cardiology, MLC 2003 Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center 3333 Burnet Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3039 (513) 636-0902; (513) 636-5958 (Fax)
[email protected]
Copyright © 2008 by the American Physiological Society.
2 Abstract The purpose of this study is to provide standard echocardiographic and morphometric data for normal mouse valve structure and function from late fetal to aged adult stages. Cross sectional, two-dimensional and Doppler transthoracic echocardiography was performed in C57BL6 mice anesthetized with 1-2% Isofluorane at embryonic day 18.5 (late fetal), 10 days (neonate), 1 month (juvenile), 2 months (young adult), 9 months (old adult), and 16 months (aged adult). Normal annulus dimensions indexed to age or weight and selected flow velocities were established by echocardiography. After echocardiographic imaging, hearts were harvested and histologic and morphometric analyses were performed. Morphometric analysis demonstrated progressive valve thinning and elongation during the fetal and juvenile stages that plateaued during adult stages (ANOVA p
