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Hope for healthy hearts revealed in naked mole rat studies

Date:
August 19, 2014
Source:
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Summary:
The naked mole rat, the longest lived of rodents, shows superior cardiovascular function to old age in two studies. Cardiovascular disease is the greatest killer of humans the world over, presenting huge financial and quality-of-life issues. It is well known that the heart becomes less efficient with age in all mammals studied to date, even in the absence of overt cardiac disease. However, scientists still don't have a good understanding of how to prevent these functional declines that ultimately may lead to debilitating cardiovascular disease.
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Cardiovascular disease is the greatest killer of humans the world over, presenting huge financial and quality-of-life issues. It is well known that the heart becomes less efficient with age in all mammals studied to date, even in the absence of overt cardiac disease. However, scientists still don't have a good understanding of how to prevent these functional declines that ultimately may lead to debilitating cardiovascular disease.

The longest-lived rodent, the naked mole rat, beats these odds and escapes cardiovascular aging, at least at ages equivalent to 92-year-old humans, researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported.

Kelly Grimes, a graduate student in the lab of Rochelle Buffenstein, Ph.D., at the Health Science Center's Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, has conducted the first studies of naked mole rat cardiovascular function. Her findings of maintained cardiovascular function during aging support earlier studies that this species resists the common signs of aging.

She found that, at rest, the heart of the naked mole rat beats very slowly (250 beats per minute). The rodent should have a heart rate twice as high for its body size. How much blood the heart pumps, how hard it contracts to pump the blood, and blood pressure in naked mole rats also are very low. "However, if they need to, for example during exercise, naked mole rats can ramp up their cardiac function with ease," Grimes said. "Their entire cardiovascular system seems to be optimized."

These data are from two papers recently published by Grimes and Dr. Buffenstein as part of a study supported by the American Heart Association. Dr. Buffenstein emphasized that the naked mole rat is unlike any other cardiovascular aging model studied.

"It looks like the naked mole rat maintains heart function at youthful levels at least till age 90," Dr. Buffenstein said. "Clearly these animals hold the secret to healthy hearts in aging humans."

Why do humans, rats, mice, monkeys, dogs and other animals show declines, but not the naked mole rat? Grimes is studying molecular mechanisms that might be protecting the naked mole rats' cardiovascular structure and function. These protective mechanisms are likely closely linked to their natural subterranean environment and exceptional stress resistance.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Original written by Will Sansom. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal References:

  1. K. M. Grimes, A. K. Reddy, M. L. Lindsey, R. Buffenstein. And the beat goes on: maintained cardiovascular function during aging in the longest-lived rodent, the naked mole-rat. AJP: Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 2014; 307 (3): H284 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00305.2014
  2. K. M. Grimes, A. Voorhees, Y. A. Chiao, H.-C. Han, M. L. Lindsey, R. Buffenstein. Cardiac function of the naked mole-rat: ecophysiological responses to working underground. AJP: Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 2013; 306 (5): H730 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00831.2013

Cite This Page:

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "Hope for healthy hearts revealed in naked mole rat studies." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 August 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140819094051.htm>.
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. (2014, August 19). Hope for healthy hearts revealed in naked mole rat studies. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 18, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140819094051.htm
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "Hope for healthy hearts revealed in naked mole rat studies." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140819094051.htm (accessed March 18, 2024).

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