Calcified Aortic Valve Tissue Analysis

Human calcified aortic valve (CAV) leaflets (A total of 10 distinct people’s samples were collected) were obtained from patients with CAVD undergoing aortic valve replacement. Normal aortic valves (A total of 10 distinct people’s samples were collected) in the control group samples from organ donations. Valves with congenital bileaflet aortic valves (BAVs), moderate to severe aortic regurgitation, infective endocarditis, congenital valve disease, and rheumatic aortic valve disease were excluded. In total, four groups of normal valve tissues and four groups of calcified valve tissues were obtained. After valve dissection, we cut the valve in half from the aortic end to the tip, and half of the valve was stored in formalin at −4°C for paraffin embedding, while the other group was placed in liquid nitrogen for RNA and protein extraction. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Qilu Hospital (reference number: KYLL-2021(KS)-393), in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki, the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association. Written consent to participate in the study was obtained from all patients.