Effect of intraluminal pressure on the intimal thickening in injured rabbit carotid arteries in an organ-culture system

We developed an organ culture sg stem in order to examine the effect of intraluminal pressure on intimal thickening in injured arteries, After endothelial denudation, an excised rabbit common carotid artery was incubated at 37 degrees C in a glass bottle perfused with Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium containing 10% fetal calf serum at a constant flow rate of 6 ml/h at various static pressure of 60, 95, 130, 165, or 200 cmH(2)O. Intimal thickening, which consisted of smooth muscle cells and extracellular matrix, increased in a time- and pressure-dependent manner up to 130 cmH(2)O. Excessive pressures (165 and 200 cmH(2)O), however, caused necrosis in the media. These results suggest that a rise in intraluminal pressure accelerates intimal thickening in injured arteries.