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Structural-Mechanical Changes in the Pericardium During Pregnancy

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Abstract

The pericardium’s collagenous structure limits over-expansion of the heart, couples the left and right ventricles, and keeps the heart in place in the chest cavity. Experimental volume overload studies in dogs have demonstrated consequent pericardial remodeling. By comparison, the maternal heart is subjected to large, natural volume overload but with altered hormonal levels. No current literature exists on the resulting pericardial changes. This study investigates those effects in a bovine model that mimics human pregnancy. Pericardial samples were collected from 10 never-pregnant and 17 pregnant cattle from 13 weeks gestation or later. Biaxial mechanics, hydrothermal isometric tension (HIT) testing, crosslink analysis, histology and biochemical tests for water and collagen contents were conducted. There were no changes in the collagen and water contents, or in the crimp length between pericardia of pregnant and non-pregnant animals. In late pregnancy, pericardial thickness increased with only slight decreases in biomechanical stretch ratios, mainly in the base-to-apex direction. Pericardium from pregnant cattle had a 14.8% decrease in cell density, 1.3° lower collagen denaturation temperature, and a surprising 32.0% lower index of immature crosslinking. Indeed, hydrothermal studies of collagen from the pregnant animals’ pericardia showed greater mature and total crosslinking (40.9 and 22.4% increases in isothermal load decay half-times) respectively. Overall, then, there was evidence on the molecular level of remodeling and growth in the pericardium in early pregnancy (<13 weeks gestation). This is the first study to demonstrate that pericardium remodels and grows to adapt to changes in pregnancy, perhaps as a means to maintaining its functional properties.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the University Health Network Research, Toronto, for providing the “Local Thresholding” ImageJ plugin used in this study’s cell counting protocol. As well, thanks are extended to Dr. Michael Sacks (University of Pittsburgh) and Andrew Moeller (Dalhousie University) for providing their custom-written MathCAD and Labview programs, and to OH Armstrong Foods for their cooperation during sample collection. JAED was supported by a graduate scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). That agency also provided research grants to JML and SMW in support of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biomedical Engineering, Dalhousie University, 5981 University Avenue, Halifax, NS, B3H 3J5, Canada

    Jennifer A. E. Doane, J. Michael Lee & Sarah M. Wells

  2. Department of Applied Oral Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    J. Michael Lee

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  1. Jennifer A. E. Doane
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  2. J. Michael Lee
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Correspondence to Sarah M. Wells.

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Associate Editor Jane Grande-Allen oversaw the review of this article.

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Doane, J.A.E., Lee, J.M. & Wells, S.M. Structural-Mechanical Changes in the Pericardium During Pregnancy. Cardiovasc Eng Tech 4, 39–52 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-012-0116-4

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