The biochemical composition of haemodynamically stressed vascular tissue. III. The collagen composition of experimental arteriovenous fistulae.

The external jugular vein and the common carotid artery were anastomosed in 8 sheep. Morphological changes similar to those observed in human atherosclerosis are produced particularly in the venous tissue. There is a significant increase in the collagen content of the dilated mid-segment of the experimental vein. Also there is a positive correlation between post-operative age and the amount of collagen, especially in the distal region of the artery and in the proximal and middle regions of the vein. In both the control and experimental veins the amino acid composition of collagen was very similar. However, the arterial preparations did not exhibit the same degree of purity. Most of the collagen was the type I variant (approx. 80% in arteries and 70% in veins). In the sham-operated veins about 30% of the collagen was type III but it was nearer 17% in the control arteries. Whilst experimental and control arteries had similar proportions of type III collagen, there was a 30% reduction in the experimental veins. Although there was no significant correlation between the proportion of any of the genetic types of collagen and the post-operative age of the animals, there was a strong correlation for the increment in type I in all regions of the experimental vein as a function of time.