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Anatomical Reconstructions of the Human Cardiac Venous System using Contrast-computed Tomography of Perfusion-fixed Specimens
Published on: April 18, 2013
The cardiovascular system
A Moore1, A A Mangoni, D Lyons
1Department of Health Care of the Elderly, Guy's, King's, and St Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College Hospital (Dulwich), East Dulwich Grove, London SE22 8PT, UK. alanmoore@elivefree.net
Insights
Aging alters cardiovascular responses to drugs, affecting arteries, veins, and the heart. Some age-related cardiovascular changes may be reversible, offering therapeutic potential.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Pharmacology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Aging significantly impacts the cardiovascular system's response to pharmacological stimuli.
- Changes affect arterial and venous systems, influencing cardiac afterload and vascular resistance.
- Key alterations include reduced arterial compliance and altered autonomic nervous system activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the effects of aging on cardiovascular drug and hormone reactivity.
- To examine age-related changes in the autonomic nervous system and cardiovascular responses to inotropic agents.
- To discuss the potential reversibility of age-related cardiovascular changes and their therapeutic implications.
Main Methods:
- This review synthesizes existing literature on aging and cardiovascular pharmacology.
- It focuses on studies investigating drug and hormone effects on arterial and venous systems.
- Analysis includes research on autonomic nervous system modulation and inotropic agent responses in aging populations.
Main Results:
- Aging leads to decreased large artery compliance and impaired vascular resistance regulation.
- Sympathetic nervous system activity increases with age.
- Hemodynamic responses to inotropic agents are diminished in older individuals.
Conclusions:
- Aging profoundly alters cardiovascular reactivity to pharmacological agents.
- Age-related cardiovascular changes, including arterial and venous systems, are complex.
- Partial reversibility of these changes suggests promising therapeutic avenues for cardiovascular health in aging individuals.
Abstract:
The ageing process is associated with important changes in the responses of the cardiovascular system to pharmacological stimuli. They are not limited to the arterial system, involved in the modulation of cardiac afterload and vascular resistance, but they also involve the low-resistance capacitance venous system and the heart. The main changes include loss of large artery compliance, dysfunction of some of the systems modulating resistance vessel tone, increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, and reduced haemodynamic responses to inotropic agents. This review focuses on the effects of ageing on arterial and venous reactivity to drugs and hormones, the autonomic nervous system, and the cardiovascular responses to inotropic agents. Some of the age-related changes might be at least partially reversible. This may have important therapeutic implications.
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