Thermal effect on heart rate and hemodynamics in vitelline arteries of stage 18 chicken embryos

Abstract 

We investigated the thermal effects on heart rate, hemodynamics, and response of vitelline arteries of stage-18 chicken embryos. Heart rate was monitored by a high-speed imaging method, while hemodynamic quantities were evaluated using a particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Experiments were carried out at seven different temperatures (36–42°C with 1°C interval) after 1h of incubation to stabilize the heart rate. The heart rate increased in a linear manner (r=0.992). Due to the increased cardiac output (or heart rate), the hemodynamic quantities such as mean velocity (U_mean), velocity fluctuation (U_fluc), and peak velocity (U_peak) also increased with respect to the Womersley number (Ω) in the manner r=0.599, 0.693, and 0.725, respectively. This indicates that the mechanical force exerting on the vessel walls increases. However, the active response (or regulation) of the vitelline arteries was not observed in this study.

Keywords: Chicken embryo, Thermal effect, Heart rate, Hemodynamics, Vitelline arteries, PIV, Temperature coefficient