Left ventricular morphology of the giraffe heart examined by stereological methods

Kristine Hovkjær Østergaard; Ulrik Baandrup; Tobias Wang; Mads Frost Bertelsen; Johnnie Bremholm Andersen; Morten Holdgaard Smerup; Jens Randel Nyengaard

doi:10.1002/ar.22672

Left ventricular morphology of the giraffe heart examined by stereological methods

Kristine Hovkjær Østergaard, Ulrik Baandrup, Tobias Wang, Mads Frost Bertelsen, Johnnie Bremholm Andersen, Morten Holdgaard Smerup, Jens Randel Nyengaard

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The giraffe heart has a relative mass similar to other mammals, but generates twice the blood pressure to overcome the gravitational challenge of perfusing the cerebral circulation. To provide insight as to how the giraffe left ventricle (LV) is structurally adapted to tackle such a high afterload, we performed a quantitative structural study of the LV myocardium in young and adult giraffe hearts. Tissue samples were collected from young and adult giraffe LV. Design-based stereology was used to obtain unbiased estimates of numbers and sizes of cardiomyocytes, nuclei and capillaries. The numerical density of myocyte nuclei was 120 × 10(3) mm(-3) in the adult and 504 × 10(3) mm(-3) in the young LV. The total number (N) of myocyte nuclei was 1.3 × 10(11) in the adult LV and 4.9 × 10(10) in the young LV. In the adult LV the volume per myocyte was 39.5 × 10(3) μm(3) and the number of nuclei per myocyte was 4.2. The numerical density of myocytes was 24.1 × 10(6) cm(-3) and the capillary volume fraction of the adult giraffe ventricle was 0.054. The significantly higher total number of myocyte nuclei in the adult LV, the high density of myocyte nuclei in the LV, and the number of nuclei per myocyte (which was unusually high compared to other mammalian, including human data), all suggest the presence of myocyte proliferation during growth of the animal to increase wall thickness and normalize LV wall tension as the neck lengthens and the need for higher blood pressure ensues.

Original language	English
Journal	Anatomical Record
Volume	296
Issue number	4
Pages (from-to)	611-621
Number of pages	11
ISSN	0003-276X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.22672
Publication status	Published - Apr 2013

Access to Document

10.1002/ar.22672

Cite this

@article{c40c21b9fa7145e4baf80ab0c7dd161e,

title = "Left ventricular morphology of the giraffe heart examined by stereological methods",

abstract = "The giraffe heart has a relative mass similar to other mammals, but generates twice the blood pressure to overcome the gravitational challenge of perfusing the cerebral circulation. To provide insight as to how the giraffe left ventricle (LV) is structurally adapted to tackle such a high afterload, we performed a quantitative structural study of the LV myocardium in young and adult giraffe hearts. Tissue samples were collected from young and adult giraffe LV. Design-based stereology was used to obtain unbiased estimates of numbers and sizes of cardiomyocytes, nuclei and capillaries. The numerical density of myocyte nuclei was 120 × 10(3) mm(-3) in the adult and 504 × 10(3) mm(-3) in the young LV. The total number (N) of myocyte nuclei was 1.3 × 10(11) in the adult LV and 4.9 × 10(10) in the young LV. In the adult LV the volume per myocyte was 39.5 × 10(3) μm(3) and the number of nuclei per myocyte was 4.2. The numerical density of myocytes was 24.1 × 10(6) cm(-3) and the capillary volume fraction of the adult giraffe ventricle was 0.054. The significantly higher total number of myocyte nuclei in the adult LV, the high density of myocyte nuclei in the LV, and the number of nuclei per myocyte (which was unusually high compared to other mammalian, including human data), all suggest the presence of myocyte proliferation during growth of the animal to increase wall thickness and normalize LV wall tension as the neck lengthens and the need for higher blood pressure ensues.",

author = "{\O}stergaard, {Kristine Hovkj{\ae}r} and Ulrik Baandrup and Tobias Wang and Bertelsen, {Mads Frost} and Andersen, {Johnnie Bremholm} and Smerup, {Morten Holdgaard} and Nyengaard, {Jens Randel}",

year = "2013",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1002/ar.22672",

language = "English",

volume = "296",

pages = "611--621",

journal = "Anatomical Record",

issn = "0003-276X",

publisher = "Wiley",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Left ventricular morphology of the giraffe heart examined by stereological methods

AU - Østergaard, Kristine Hovkjær

AU - Baandrup, Ulrik

AU - Wang, Tobias

AU - Bertelsen, Mads Frost

AU - Andersen, Johnnie Bremholm

AU - Smerup, Morten Holdgaard

AU - Nyengaard, Jens Randel

PY - 2013/4

Y1 - 2013/4

N2 - The giraffe heart has a relative mass similar to other mammals, but generates twice the blood pressure to overcome the gravitational challenge of perfusing the cerebral circulation. To provide insight as to how the giraffe left ventricle (LV) is structurally adapted to tackle such a high afterload, we performed a quantitative structural study of the LV myocardium in young and adult giraffe hearts. Tissue samples were collected from young and adult giraffe LV. Design-based stereology was used to obtain unbiased estimates of numbers and sizes of cardiomyocytes, nuclei and capillaries. The numerical density of myocyte nuclei was 120 × 10(3) mm(-3) in the adult and 504 × 10(3) mm(-3) in the young LV. The total number (N) of myocyte nuclei was 1.3 × 10(11) in the adult LV and 4.9 × 10(10) in the young LV. In the adult LV the volume per myocyte was 39.5 × 10(3) μm(3) and the number of nuclei per myocyte was 4.2. The numerical density of myocytes was 24.1 × 10(6) cm(-3) and the capillary volume fraction of the adult giraffe ventricle was 0.054. The significantly higher total number of myocyte nuclei in the adult LV, the high density of myocyte nuclei in the LV, and the number of nuclei per myocyte (which was unusually high compared to other mammalian, including human data), all suggest the presence of myocyte proliferation during growth of the animal to increase wall thickness and normalize LV wall tension as the neck lengthens and the need for higher blood pressure ensues.

AB - The giraffe heart has a relative mass similar to other mammals, but generates twice the blood pressure to overcome the gravitational challenge of perfusing the cerebral circulation. To provide insight as to how the giraffe left ventricle (LV) is structurally adapted to tackle such a high afterload, we performed a quantitative structural study of the LV myocardium in young and adult giraffe hearts. Tissue samples were collected from young and adult giraffe LV. Design-based stereology was used to obtain unbiased estimates of numbers and sizes of cardiomyocytes, nuclei and capillaries. The numerical density of myocyte nuclei was 120 × 10(3) mm(-3) in the adult and 504 × 10(3) mm(-3) in the young LV. The total number (N) of myocyte nuclei was 1.3 × 10(11) in the adult LV and 4.9 × 10(10) in the young LV. In the adult LV the volume per myocyte was 39.5 × 10(3) μm(3) and the number of nuclei per myocyte was 4.2. The numerical density of myocytes was 24.1 × 10(6) cm(-3) and the capillary volume fraction of the adult giraffe ventricle was 0.054. The significantly higher total number of myocyte nuclei in the adult LV, the high density of myocyte nuclei in the LV, and the number of nuclei per myocyte (which was unusually high compared to other mammalian, including human data), all suggest the presence of myocyte proliferation during growth of the animal to increase wall thickness and normalize LV wall tension as the neck lengthens and the need for higher blood pressure ensues.

U2 - 10.1002/ar.22672

DO - 10.1002/ar.22672

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0003-276X

VL - 296

SP - 611

EP - 621

JO - Anatomical Record

JF - Anatomical Record

IS - 4

ER -

Left ventricular morphology of the giraffe heart examined by stereological methods

Abstract

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this