Wall shear stress and its relationship to endothelium-derived relaxing factor

This study is a combination of results from high-precision in vivo ultrasound data from EDRF-related intervention experiments, and predictions from a Computational Fluid Dynamics code incorporating effects of wall compliance. Both approaches are novel, and the synergy of the results allows an interpretation of the effects of the EDRF-type interventions with a focus on wall shear stress. The in vivo experiments provided the flow parameters and arterial diameters in a porcine common carotid arteries with (a) ipsilateral infusion of 0.1μM bradykinin, (b) contralateral infusion of 1.0μM bradykinin, and (c) ipsilateral infusion of 0.1μM after endothelial denudation. These experimental data were reinforced by matching predictions of wall shear stress which were unobtainable through in vivo measurement. Further, these data were used to construct an empirical wall compliance model which in its turn, was found to be able to predict arterial diameter changes in good agreement with the in vivo measurements.