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- Title
Influence of regular exercise on age-related changes in arterial elasticity: mechanistic insights from wall compositions in rat aorta.
- Authors
Nosaka, Toshiya; Tanaka, Hirofumi; Watanabe, Izumi; Sato, Masaaki; Matsuda, Mitsuo
- Abstract
Arterial stiffness increases with age in healthy sedentary adults. We previously reported that the age-related increases in arterial stiffness are absent or attenuated in regularly exercising adults. However, the mechanism underlying this training effect is unknown. One possibility is that regular exercise minimizes age-related changes in the arterial wall composition of elastin and collagen. To gain insight into this issue, we studied four groups of rats (N = 23): young (42-46 wks) and old (80-84 wks), sedentary and exercise-trained. The exercise group swam 1 hr.d-1, 6 d.wk-1 for 17-21 weeks. There was no significant difference in the incremental elastic modulus between young sedentary and exercise-trained rats. The elastic moduli of the old exercise-trained rats were 31% lower than in the old sedentary controls. As such, the magnitude of age-related increase in the elastic modulus was smaller in the exercise-trained (110%) vs. the sedentary group (151%) (p < 0.05). In both activity groups, elastin content was lower and collagen content was higher in old vs. young rats (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences between the two activity groups. These results are not consistent with the hypothesis that regular physical exercise minimizes age-related compositional changes in the arterial wall and attenuates the age-related increase in arterial stiffness.
- Publication
Canadian journal of applied physiology = Revue canadienne de physiologie appliquee, 2003, Vol 28, Issue 2, p204
- ISSN
1066-7814
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1139/h03-016