THE VISCOELASTIC BEHAVIOR OF ELASTIN IN AQUEOUS ETHYLENE-GLYCOL

The viscoelastic behaviour of arterial elastin in aqueous ethylene gly col has been studied to compare the effects of two solvents of differi ng polarity. The behaviour of elastin in low concentrations of ethylen e glycol was similar to that of elastin that had been indirectly de-hy drated using polyethylene glycol as an osmotic agent. That is, at low concentrations the dominant effect of ethylene glycol was to reduce th e activity of the water molecules. However, at high concentrations, et hylene glycol appeared to interact directly with the elastin, altering both the swelling and the viscoelastic behaviour of the network.