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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2006;26:2110.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

Atherosclerosis and Lipoproteins

High-Resolution X-Ray Microtomography Is a Sensitive Method to Detect Vascular Calcification in Living Rats With Chronic Renal Failure

Veerle Persy; Andrei Postnov; Ellen Neven; Geert Dams; Marc De Broe; Patrick D’Haese; Nora De Clerck

From the Department of Pathophysiology (V.P., E.N., G.D, M.D.B., P.D.) and Laboratory of Microtomography (A.P., N.D.C.), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.

Correspondence to Veerle Persy, University of Antwerp, Pathophysiology, Universiteitsplein 1, T 3.06, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium. E-mail veerle.persy{at}ua.ac.be

Objective— Chronic renal failure (CRF) is associated with a 10- to 20-fold increase in cardiovascular risk. Vascular calcification is a prominent feature of cardiovascular disease in patients with end-stage renal failure and contributes to the excess mortality in this population. In this study, we explored in vivo X-ray microtomography (micro-CT) as a tool to detect and follow-up vascular calcifications in the aorta of living rats with adenine-induced CRF.

Methods and Results— With in vivo micro-CT, calcification of the aorta in uremic rats was clearly discernible on transversal virtual cross-sections. Micro-CT findings correlated well with tissue calcium content and histology. Repetitive scans in animals with light, moderate, and severe vascular calcification showed good reproducibility with minimal interference of motion artifacts. Moreover, both calcified volume and area could be quantified with this method.

Conclusions— In vivo micro-CT scanning is a sensitive method to detect vascular calcifications in CRF rats, allowing follow-up and quantification of the development, and potential reversal during treatment, of vascular calcifications in living animals.

Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with enhanced vascular calcification as a prominent feature. In this study, we demonstrated that in vivo micro-CT scanning is a sensitive, reproducible method to detect and quantify aortic calcification in living CRF rats, opening perspectives for future interventional studies.

Key Words: ectopic calcification • imaging • micro-CT • renal failure • kidney

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