Cardiac high-energy phosphate metabolism alters with age as studied in 196 healthy males with the help of 31-phosphorus 2-dimensional chemical shift imaging.

• Main Authors: Regina Esterhammer, Gert Klug, Christian Wolf, Agnes Mayr, Sebastian Reinstadler, Hans-Josef Feistritzer, Bernhard Metzler, Michael F H Schocke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4062408?pdf=render

Recently published studies have elucidated alterations of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism during ageing. The intention of the present study was to evaluate the impact of ageing on cardiac high-energy phosphate metabolism and cardiac function in healthy humans. 31-phosphorus 2-dimensional chemical shift imaging (31P 2D CSI) and echocardiography were performed in 196 healthy male volunteers divided into groups of 20 to 40 years (I, n = 43), 40 to 60 years (II, n = 123) and >60 years (III, n = 27) of age. Left ventricular PCr/β-ATP ratio, myocardial mass (MM), ejection fraction and E/A ratio were assessed. Mean PCr/β-ATP ratios were significantly different among the three groups of volunteers (I, 2.10 ± 0.37; II, 1.77 ± 0.37; III, 1.45 ± 0.28; all p<0.001). PCr/β-ATP ratios were inversely related to age (r(2)  =  -0.25; p<0.001) with a decrease from 2.65 by 0.02 per year of ageing. PCr/β-ATP ratios further correlated with MM (r =  -0.371; p<0.001) and E/A ratios (r = 0.213; p<0.02). Moreover, E/A ratios (r =  -0.502, p<0.001), MM (r = 0.304, p<0.001), glucose-levels (r = 0.157, p<0.05) and systolic blood pressure (r = 0.224, p<0.005) showed significant correlations with age. The ejection fraction did not significantly differ between the groups. This study shows that cardiac PCr/β-ATP ratios decrease moderately with age indicating an impairment of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism due to age. Furthermore, MM increases, and E/A ratio decreases with age. Both correlate with left-ventricular PCr/β-ATP ratios. The findings of the present study confirm numerous experimental studies showing an impairment of cardiac mitochondrial function with age.