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Ageing of the heart reversed by youthful systemic factors!

Andrew S Brack1

  • 1Center for Regenerative Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Boston, MA, USA. Brack.Andrew@mgh.harvard.edu

The EMBO Journal
|July 18, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Youthful blood factors, like GDF11, can reverse age-related cardiac hypertrophy in mice. This suggests systemic factors are crucial for maintaining heart health during aging.

Area of Science:

  • Gerontology
  • Cardiovascular Biology
  • Regenerative Medicine

Background:

  • Aging leads to impaired tissue maintenance and repair, with unclear underlying mechanisms.
  • Age-related tissue demise has severe physiological consequences.
  • Cardiac hypertrophy is a common age-associated cardiovascular issue.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of blood-borne factors in age-related cardiac hypertrophy.
  • To identify specific factors contributing to cardiac aging.
  • To explore potential therapeutic interventions for age-related heart conditions.

Main Methods:

  • A study published in Cell (Loffredo et al, 2013) analyzed blood-borne factors in aged mice.
  • Aged mice were exposed to youthful systemic factors.
  • Specific factor GDF11 was administered to aged mice.

Main Results:

  • The study proposes that loss of blood-borne factors during aging contributes to cardiac hypertrophy.
  • Exposure to youthful systemic factors reduced cardiac hypertrophy in aged mice.
  • Administration of GDF11 alone decreased cardiac hypertrophy in aged mice.

Conclusions:

  • Systemic factors present in youthful blood can reverse age-related cardiac hypertrophy.
  • GDF11 is identified as a key blood-borne factor involved in mitigating cardiac aging.
  • This research opens avenues for therapies targeting age-related cardiovascular decline.

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