Elsevier

Atherosclerosis

Volume 11, Issue 3, May–June 1970, Pages 509-529
Atherosclerosis

Research paper
Studies on the age-related changes occurring in human cerebral arteries

https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9150(70)90029-8Get rights and content

Abstract

From the 4th to the 7th decades of life, the period in which cerebral atherosclerosis increases in frequency and severity, the macromolecules and macromolecular complexes of the intimal connective tissue of the lesion-free specimens of cerebral arteries undergo spontaneous modifications, reflected by changes in: chemical components, reactive groups, electrical charge, susceptibility to enzymatic digestions and chemical extractions. These age-related changes determine: (i) the differentiation in the newly formed intimal connective tissue of two sublayers, displaying a distinct pattern of macromolecular composition, organization and aggregation; (ii) the increase, in the outer intimal sublayer, of various cross-links between carbohydrates, non-collagen proteins, elastin and collagen macromolecules, resulting in an abnormal state of aggregation which prevents enzyme-substrate interactions, in vitro, on tissue sections; (iii) the transformation of some limited areas of the inner intimal sublayer into a loose-mucoid and edematous tissue process which seems to be preceded by a spontaneous and progressive dissolution of some constituents of the ground substance, reticular, elastic and collagen fibers; (iv) the diminution of the histochemical reactivity of the sulfate groups, due to a progressive blockade of these radicals by basic proteins.

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