(Circulation. 2001;104:221.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Basic Science Reports |
Exercise Training Attenuates Age-Associated Diastolic Dysfunction in Rats
From the Cardiac Muscle Research Laboratory, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
Correspondence to Kurt W. Saupe, PhD, Cardiac Muscle Research Laboratory, 650 Albany St, X720, Boston, MA 02118. E-mail ksaupe{at}aol.com
Background—— In contrast to systolic function, which is relatively well preserved with advancing age, diastolic function declines steadily after age 30. Our goal was to determine whether changes in diastolic function that occur with aging could be reversed with exercise training.
Methods and Results—— Adult (6-month-old) and old (24-month-old) Fischer 344/BNF1 rats were studied after either 12 weeks of treadmill training or normal sedentary cage life. Three aspects of diastolic function were studied: (1) left ventricular (LV) filling in vivo via Doppler echocardiograph, (2) LV passive compliance, and (3) the degree of ischemia-induced LV stiffening. Maximal exercise capacity was lower in the old rats (18±1 minutes to exhaustion on a standard treadmill) than in the adult rats (25±1 minutes). Training increased exercise capacity by 43% in the old rats and 46% in the adults (to 26±1 and 37±1 minutes, respectively). Echocardiographic indices of LV relaxation were significantly lower in the old rats, but with training, they increased back to the levels seen in the adults. LV stiffness measured in the isolated, perfused hearts was not affected by age or training. Also in the isolated hearts, the LV stiffened more rapidly during low-flow ischemia in the old hearts than in the adults, but training eliminated this age-associated difference in the response to ischemia.
Conclusions—— Our findings indicate that in rats, some age-associated changes in diastolic function are reversible and thus may not be intrinsic to aging but instead secondary to other processes, such as deconditioning.
Key Words: aging • ischemia • exercise • diastole
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  G. Derumeaux, F. Ichinose, M. J. Raher, J. G. Morgan, T. Coman, C. Lee, J. M. Cuesta, H. Thibault, K. D. Bloch, M. H. Picard, et al. Myocardial Alterations in Senescent Mice and Effect of Exercise Training: A Strain Rate Imaging Study Circ Cardiovasc Imaging, November 1, 2008; 1(3): 227 - 234. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Groban, H. Jobe, M. Lin, T. Houle, D. A. Kitzman, and W. Sonntag Effects of Short-Term Treadmill Exercise Training or Growth Hormone Supplementation on Diastolic Function and Exercise Tolerance in Old Rats J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., September 1, 2008; 63(9): 911 - 920. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. C. Lieber, H. Qiu, L. Chen, Y.-T. Shen, C. Hong, W. C. Hunter, N. Aubry, S. F. Vatner, and D. E. Vatner Cardiac dysfunction in aging conscious rats: altered cardiac cytoskeletal proteins as a potential mechanism Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, August 1, 2008; 295(2): H860 - H866. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. C. Betik, D. J. Baker, D. J. Krause, M. J. McConkey, and R. T. Hepple Exercise training in late middle-aged male Fischer 344 x Brown Norway F1-hybrid rats improves skeletal muscle aerobic function Exp Physiol, July 1, 2008; 93(7): 863 - 871. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. H. Korzick, J. C. Kostyak, J. C. Hunter, and K. W. Saupe Local delivery of PKC{varepsilon}-activating peptide mimics ischemic preconditioning in aged hearts through GSK-3beta but not F1-ATPase inactivation Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, October 1, 2007; 293(4): H2056 - H2063. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. Groban, N. A. Pailes, C. D. L. Bennett, C. S. Carter, M. C. Chappell, D. W. Kitzman, and W. E. Sonntag Growth Hormone Replacement Attenuates Diastolic Dysfunction and Cardiac Angiotensin II Expression in Senescent Rats J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., January 1, 2006; 61(1): 28 - 35. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Slama, J. Ahn, M. Peltier, J. Maizel, D. Chemla, J. Varagic, D. Susic, C. Tribouilloy, and E. D. Frohlich Validation of echocardiographic and Doppler indexes of left ventricular relaxation in adult hypertensive and normotensive rats Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, September 1, 2005; 289(3): H1131 - H1136. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Wan, S. Camandola, and M. P. Mattson Dietary supplementation with 2-deoxy-D-glucose improves cardiovascular and neuroendocrine stress adaptation in rats Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, September 1, 2004; 287(3): H1186 - H1193. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. C. Lieber, N. Aubry, J. Pain, G. Diaz, S.-J. Kim, and S. F. Vatner Aging increases stiffness of cardiac myocytes measured by atomic force microscopy nanoindentation Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, August 1, 2004; 287(2): H645 - H651. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. O. Boluyt, K. Converso, H. S. Hwang, A. Mikkor, and M. W. Russell Echocardiographic assessment of age-associated changes in systolic and diastolic function of the female F344 rat heart J Appl Physiol, February 1, 2004; 96(2): 822 - 828. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Slama, J. Ahn, J. Varagic, D. Susic, and E. D. Frohlich Long-term left ventricular echocardiographic follow-up of SHR and WKY rats: effects of hypertension and age Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, January 1, 2004; 286(1): H181 - H185. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. E. Gates, H. Tanaka, J. Graves, and D. R. Seals Left ventricular structure and diastolic function with human ageing: Relation to habitual exercise and arterial stiffness Eur. Heart J., December 2, 2003; 24(24): 2213 - 2220. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. C. Baldi, K. McFarlane, H. C. Oxenham, G. A. Whalley, H. J. Walsh, and R. N. Doughty Left ventricular diastolic filling and systolic function of young and older trained and untrained men J Appl Physiol, December 1, 2003; 95(6): 2570 - 2575. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 X. Zhang, G. Azhar, M. C. Furr, Y. Zhong, and J. Y. Wei Model of functional cardiac aging: young adult mice with mild overexpression of serum response factor Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, September 1, 2003; 285(3): R552 - R560. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. Oxenham and N. Sharpe Cardiovascular aging and heart failure Eur J Heart Fail, August 1, 2003; 5(4): 427 - 434. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. G. Lakatta Arterial and Cardiac Aging: Major Shareholders in Cardiovascular Disease Enterprises: Part III: Cellular and Molecular Clues to Heart and Arterial Aging Circulation, January 28, 2003; 107(3): 490 - 497. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. G. Lakatta and S. J. Sollott The "Heartbreak" of Older Age Mol. Interv., November 1, 2002; 2(7): 431 - 446. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. J. Stewart Exercise Training and the Cardiovascular Consequences of Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension: Plausible Mechanisms for Improving Cardiovascular Health JAMA, October 2, 2002; 288(13): 1622 - 1631. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|