Mechanical anisotropy of purified elastin from the thoracic aorta of dog and sheep

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Abstract
Mechanical anisotropy was found in elastin from the wall of the thoracic aorta by testing digested vessels from seven mature dogs and five pregnant ewes. The elastin was purified by removing the muscle and collagen with 0.1 N NaOH at 75 °C for 5 h. Strips oriented circumferentially and longitudinally with respect to the vessel axis were cycled at increasing loads until failure. Combining the results for four dogs and three sheep the ultimate tensile strength was 405 × 103 ± 155 × 103 SDN/m2 circumferentially and 189 × 103 ± 85 × 103 SD N/m2 longitudinally. The difference is significant at p < 0.01. The ultimate strain was not significantly different, 1.19 ± 0.29 SD circumferentially and 1.01 ± 0.26 SD longitudinally. At 0.4 strain, the Young's modulus for four samples from four dogs was 404 × 103 ± 64 × 103 SD N/m2 circumferentially; the modulus for five samples from five dogs was 245 × 103 ± 60 × 103 SD N/m2 longitudinally. The difference is significant at p < 0.05. At 0.7 strain, the Young's modulus for four dogs was 486 × 103 ± 82 × 103 SD N/m2 circumferentially and 343 × 103 ± 62 × 103 SD N/m2 longitudinally. The difference is significant at p < 0.05. The reasons for the anisotropy in terms of the structure are not obvious from preliminary studies using the scanning electron microscope with stretched samples.

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