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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 287/3/H1246    most recent 00199.2004v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chouabe, C. Articles by Bonvallet, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chouabe, C. Articles by Bonvallet, R.

Effects of aging on the cardiac remodeling induced by chronic high-altitude hypoxia in rat

¹Unité Mixte de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 5123, Physiologie Intégrative, Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Université Claude Bernard-Lyon I, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex; and ²Laboratoire de Bioénergétique Fondamentale et Appliquée, Université Joseph Fourier, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France

Submitted 4 March 2004 ; accepted in final form 11 May 2004

Effects of chronic high-altitude hypoxia on the remodeling of right ventricle were examined in three age groups of rats: 2, 6, and 18 mo. The extent of right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy (RVH) showed an age-associated diminution. RV cell size and pericellular fibrosis showed a significant increase in the 2- and 6-mo-old exposed rats but not in the 18-mo-old exposed rats compared with control. A hyperplasic response was underscored in the three exposed age groups but appeared less pronounced in the 18-mo-old rats. A significant decrease in the transient outward potassium current (I_to) density was observed in RV cell only in the 2-mo-old exposed group compared with the control group. In the control group, there was a clear tendency for I_to density to decrease as a function of age. The sustained outward current density was modified neither by the hypoxia condition nor by the age. Neither the cytochrome c oxidase activity nor the heat shock protein 72 content in the RV was altered after hypoxic exposure regardless of age. The norepinephrine content in the RV was significantly decreased in each age group exposed to hypoxia when compared with their age-matched control group. Our findings indicate that the remodeling (at morphological and electrophysiological levels) induced by chronic hypoxia in the RV can be decreased by the natural aging process.

hypobaric; cardiac hypertrophy; fibrosis

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