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Calorie restriction can reverse, as well as prevent, aging cardiomyopathy
Lin Yan1, Shumin Gao, David Ho
1Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Institute, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Avenue, MSB G-609, Newark, NJ, 07103, USA, yanl2@umdnj.edu.
Age (Dordrecht, Netherlands)
|January 22, 2013
Summary
Calorie restriction (CR) can reverse aging cardiomyopathy in mice, even when started later in life. This intervention fully restored heart function and structure, offering potential therapeutic benefits for age-related heart disease.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Gerontology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Calorie restriction (CR) is a well-researched intervention for mitigating aging effects.
- Previous studies on CR and aging cardiomyopathy focused on early intervention, yielding only partial prevention.
- Aging cardiomyopathy is characterized by impaired cardiac function, hypertrophy, apoptosis, and fibrosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if CR, initiated after the onset of aging cardiomyopathy, could reverse the condition.
- To determine the therapeutic potential of late-life CR in correcting age-related cardiac dysfunction.
Main Methods:
- Aging cardiomyopathy was induced in 20-month-old mice.
- Short-term (2 months) CR was administered to mice with established aging cardiomyopathy.
- Cardiac function, left ventricular (LV) weight, myocardial fibrosis, apoptosis, and cytoskeletal protein alterations were assessed.
Main Results:
- CR initiated in older mice rapidly reversed cardiac dysfunction and structural changes associated with aging cardiomyopathy.
- Post-CR hearts were indistinguishable from young controls or those treated with CR from a young age.
- While apoptosis did not revert to normal, CR corrected cytoskeletal protein alterations linked to cardiomyopathy.
Conclusions:
- This study demonstrates complete reversal of aging cardiomyopathy by CR, even when initiated later in life.
- Late-life CR offers a rapid and effective therapeutic strategy for age-related cardiac conditions.
- The findings suggest CR's benefits may stem from correcting cytoskeletal abnormalities rather than solely reducing apoptosis.
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