Remodeling of Murine Branch Pulmonary Arteries Under Chronic Hypoxia and Short-Term Normoxic Recovery

Abstract Chronic hypoxia plays a central role in diverse pulmonary pathologies, but its effects on longitudinal changes in the biomechanical behavior of proximal pulmonary arteries remain poorly understood. Similarly, effects of normoxic recovery have not been well studied. Here, we report hypoxia-induced changes in composition, vasoactivity, and passive biaxial mechanics in the main branch pulmonary artery of male C57BL/6J mice exposed to 10% FiO2 for 1, 2, or 3 weeks. We observed significant changes in extracellular matrix, and consequently wall mechanics, as early as 1 week of hypoxia. While circumferential stress and stiffness returned toward normal values by 2–3 weeks of hypoxia, area fractions of cytoplasm and thin collagen fibers did not return toward normal until after 1 week of normoxic recovery. By contrast, elastic energy storage and overall distensibility remained reduced after 3 weeks of hypoxia as well as following 1 week of normoxic recovery. While smooth muscle and endothelial cell responses were attenuated under hypoxia, smooth muscle but not endothelial cell responses recovered following 1 week of subsequent normoxia. Collectively, these data suggest that homeostatic processes were unable to preserve or restore overall function, at least over a brief period of normoxic recovery. Longitudinal changes are critical in understanding large pulmonary artery remodeling under hypoxia, and its reversal, and will inform predictive models of vascular adaptation.