Stent-induced coronary artery stenosis characterized by multimodal nonlinear optical microscopy

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Imaging
• Cardiovascular Research

Background:

• Stenting is a common procedure for coronary artery disease.
• Understanding arterial response to stenting, especially under different diets, is crucial for improving outcomes.
• Drug-eluting stents (DES) aim to prevent restenosis but their long-term effects on arterial tissue composition require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the use of multimodal nonlinear optical (NLO) microscopy for assessing stented coronary arteries.
• To investigate the impact of diet (control vs. atherogenic) and stent type (bare metal vs. DES) on arterial structure and composition post-stenting.
• To quantitatively analyze collagen content in response to different conditions.

Main Methods:

• Application of multimodal NLO microscopy, including sum frequency generation (SFG), to analyze stented coronary arteries in Ossabaw pigs.
• Comparison of arterial segments (peristent and in-stent) from pigs on control and atherogenic diets.
• Deployment of bare metal stents and Taxus DES in the coronary arteries.

Main Results:

• An atherogenic diet led to increased lipid and collagen content in peristent arterial segments.
• In-stent segments exhibited reduced collagen expression in the neointima compared to the media.
• Deployment of DES in atheromatous arteries suppressed collagen expression within the arterial media.

Conclusions:

• Multimodal NLO microscopy is effective for interrogating stented coronary arteries.
• Dietary factors significantly influence arterial composition and healing post-stenting.
• DES deployment can modulate collagen remodeling in the arterial wall, particularly in the context of an atherogenic diet.