Effects of age on right ventricular hypertrophic response to pressure-overload in rats

To examine the effects of age on hypertrophic response to pressure-overload in the right ventricle, we determined the rate and extent of hypertrophy in three age groups of Wistar rats: 2, 7 and 18 months. We created pulmonary artery constriction so that increases in right ventricular pressure were similar in those groups. One or 3 weeks after pulmonary artery constriction, the rats were sacrificed and hypertrophic response was estimated from right ventricular weight, myocyte width and protein content. In the 2-month-old rats, significant hypertrophy was observed 1 and 3 weeks after pulmonary artery constriction in terms of right ventricular weight/body weight (161% of controls at 1 week and 209% at 3 weeks), right ventricular weight/tibial length (161 and 251%, respectively) and right ventricular weight/left ventricular weight (174 and 211%, respectively). In the 7-month-old rats, significant hypertrophy was observed only at 3 weeks, but was not observed even at 3 weeks in the 18-month-old rats. The age-associated decrease and delay in hypertrophic response was also observed at cellular (myocyte width) and biochemical (protein content) levels. Thus, there is an age-associated diminution in the rate and extent of myocardial hypertrophy in the right ventricle.