Science and Research

Location-specific pathology analysis of the monopodial pulmonary vasculature in a rabbit model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia-A pilot study

The mammalian pulmonary vasculature consists of functionally and morphologically heterogeneous compartments. When comparing sets of lungs, for example, in disease models or therapeutic interventions, local changes may be masked by the overall heterogeneity of the organ structure. Therefore, alterations taking place only in a sub-compartment may not be detectable by global analysis. In the monopodial lung, the characterization of distinct vessel groups is difficult, due to the asymmetrical branching pattern. In this pilot study, a previously established method to classify segments of the monopodial pulmonary arterial tree into homogeneous groups was employed. To test its suitability for experimental settings, the method was applied to a hyperoxia (HYX, ≥95% oxygen) rabbit model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and a normoxic control group (NOX, 21% oxygen). The method allowed the identification of morphological differences between the HYX and the NOX groups. Globally visible differences in lumen diameter were pinpointed to specific lung regions. Furthermore, local changes of wall dimension and cell layers in single compartments, that would not have been identifiable in an unfocused analysis of the whole dataset, were found. In conclusion, the described method achieves a higher precision in morphological studies of lung disease models, compared to a common, global analysis approach.

  • Labode, J.
  • Haberthür, D.
  • Hlushchuk, R.
  • Regin, Y.
  • Gie, A. G.
  • Salaets, T.
  • Toelen, J.
  • Mühlfeld, C.

Keywords

  • Animals
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Rabbits
  • *Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
  • Pilot Projects
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Lung/pathology
  • Oxygen
  • *Hyperoxia/pathology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Mammals
  • branching analysis
  • cluster analysis
  • light microscopy
  • microcomputed tomography
  • monopodial lung
  • pulmonary vasculature
Publication details
DOI: 10.14814/phy2.15747
Journal: Physiol Rep
Pages: e15747 
Number: 12
Work Type: Original
Location: MHH
Disease Area: DPLD, PLI
Partner / Member: BREATH
Access-Number: 37358021

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