Diversity of coronary arterial tree in laboratory mice.

BACKGROUND

Research on the development and topography of mouse coronary arteries has been conducted for many years. Patterns of the course of these vessels have been described in various mouse strains. Our research focused on hearts of MIZZ mice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We visualised the coronary artery system by means of latex dye perfusion via the aorta. The injected latex did not reach the capillary vessel system.

RESULTS

The heart of MIZZ mice is supplied with blood by two main coronary arteries: the right and the left one. They deliver blood to the right and left part of the heart, respectively. The right coronary artery arises from the right sinus of the aorta and the left coronary artery from the left sinus. The interventricular septum is usually supplied by the septal artery, which is the main branch of the right coronary artery. All arteries of the coronary system run intramurally. The number of branches and the location of their ostia differed among the examined individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

Detailed information about the normal topography of coronary arteries, the number and course of their branches, as well as the area of the heart which is vascularised by these vessels constitutes the basic knowledge necessary to conduct further experiments.