Mouse pulmonary artery model predicts biological age from structure and mechanics
In C57BL6 mice aged 6 to 24 months, a model combining collagen fiber measures with vascular mechanical parameters predicted age better than microstructure alone; the abstract reports a female-driven signal. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
The pulmonary artery shows measurable structural and mechanical deterioration with age, but whether these changes can form a quantitative normative aging prediction model had not been demonstrated. [1]
In C57BL6 mice from 6 to 24 months, adding vascular mechanical parameters to collagen microstructure raised leave-one-out R² from 0.596 to 0.834, a 40.1% improvement. [1]
A sex dimorphism was observed, with females driving most of the collagen-based predictive signal (female-only R² = 0.960 vs. male-only R² = 0.658). [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Preclinical animal study (abstract)
- Population / context
- C57BL6 mice aged 6 to 24 months
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Publication status
- Preprint · peer-review status not confirmed
- Original publication
- June 18, 2026
Pulmonary artery aging in 6- to 24-month mice
The abstract states that the pulmonary artery shows measurable structural and mechanical deterioration with age. Whether such changes can be combined into a quantitative normative aging prediction model had not been demonstrated. The work used two-photon imaging and paired vascular mechanical measurements from C57BL6 mice spanning 6 to 24 months.
Supporting source [1]
Collagen plus mechanical parameters improved age prediction
The model integrated collagen fiber orientation and straightness with hemodynamic mechanical parameters. Fiber orientation was encoded with a von Mises probability density function referenced to circumferential and axial vessel wall axes. The microstructure-only model reached leave-one-out R² = 0.596 and mean absolute error of 3.43 months. Adding vascular mechanical parameters (pulse wave velocity) raised combined leave-one-out R² to 0.834 with mean absolute error of 2.26 months, a 40.1% improvement.
Supporting source [1]
Sex difference and proposed framework in the abstract
Lung mechanics were included as a complementary readout to test whether airway mechanics add independent predictive signal beyond vascular microstructure alone, because pulmonary vascular and parenchymal aging are described as mechanistically coupled. A sex dimorphism was observed: females drove most of the collagen-based predictive signal (female-only R² = 0.960 vs. male-only R² = 0.658). The authors describe these results as establishing a multimodal framework for vascular biological age quantification; this is a proposed framework, not a validated product.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
This is an abstract; the full text was not reviewed. Findings come from C57BL6 mice, not humans, and describe a proposed prediction framework rather than a validated product. The abstract does not report sample sizes per group or external validation.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Doddaballapur P, Di Palo J, Liu D, Lin L, Cavinato C, Ramachandra AB, Yan X, Manning EP. · europepmc.org · June 18, 2026