Sunday, February 22, 2009

Collagen Subtypes in Arterial Media Missed by Chemical Histology Stains.

The Gomori Trichrome Stain, the Pentachrome stain, and generally all other traditional chemical stains still used widely today do not stain collagen in the media. For some reason, they all stain adventitial collagen or hyper-collagenous lesions, but not the true arterial collagen.

If you perform immunohistochemistry, or better yet, electron microscopy, it is clear that an important component of the arterial media is collagen cables, subtype I and III.

This is a personal observation that applies to all of cardiovascular science, but who cares what I say. See for yourself.

The "stiff artery" due to excess collagen is a compensation for years and years of aberrant biochemical and hemodynamic situations. The alternative is "death." Stiff artery vs. death. The body's physiology chooses to trade in optimal elasticity for stiffness.

No comments:

Post a Comment