[Comparative study on the viscoelastic properties of phagocytes of atherosclerotic origin]

A micropipette aspiration technique was adopted in this study on the viscoelastic properties of phagocytes of atherosclerotic origin. A standard linear solid model (Kelvin model) was employed to fit the experimental data, and the 3 viscoelastic coefficients of the model were used to compare the mechanical properties of the phagocytes in different phases during atherosclerosis development. The experimental results indicated that prior to the formation of atherosclerosis, the deformability of the macrophages matured from monocytes decreased, and their rigidity increased. At the initial stage of atherosclerosis formation, the deformability of the foam-cells decreased further. We believe that the deterioration in the deformability of the cells might reduce their mobility within the arterial wall, thus leading to the genesis of atherosclerosis caused by the stagnation and accumulation of the cells laden with atherogenic lipids within the arterial wall. This finding may have important implication in the researches on arteriosclerosis.