TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of lifelong exercise "dose" on left ventricular compliance and distensibility
AU - Bhella, Paul S.
AU - Hastings, Jeffrey L.
AU - Fujimoto, Naoki
AU - Shibata, Shigeki
AU - Carrick-Ranson, Graeme
AU - Palmer, M. Dean
AU - Boyd, Kara N.
AU - Adams-Huet, Beverley
AU - Levine, Benjamin D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by the National Institutes of Health grant RO1 AG17479 . The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation.
PY - 2014/9/23
Y1 - 2014/9/23
N2 - BACKGROUND: Sedentary aging has deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system, including decreased left ventricular compliance and distensibility (LVCD). Conversely, Masters level athletes, who train intensively throughout adulthood, retain youthful LVCD.OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that preservation of LVCD may be possible with moderate lifelong exercise training.METHODS: Healthy seniors (n = 102) were recruited from predefined populations, screened for lifelong patterns of exercise training, and stratified into 4 groups: "sedentary" (<2 sessions/week); "casual" (2 to 3 sessions/week); "committed" (4 to 5 sessions/week); and "competitive" Masters level athletes (6 to 7 sessions/week). Right heart catheterization and echocardiography were performed while preload was manipulated using lower body negative pressure and rapid saline infusion to define LV pressure-volume relationships and Frank-Starling curves.RESULTS: Peak oxygen uptake and LV mass increased with escalating doses of lifelong exercise, with little change in systolic function. At baseline, LV distensibility was greater in committed (21%) and competitive (36%) exercisers than in sedentary subjects. Group LV stiffness constants (sedentary: 0.062 ± 0.039; casual: 0.079 ± 0.052; committed: 0.055 ± 0.033; and competitive: 0.035 ± 0.033) revealed: 1) increased stiffness in sedentary subjects compared to competitive athletes, whereas lifelong casual exercise had no effect; and 2) greater compliance in committed exercisers than in sedentary or casual exercisers.CONCLUSIONS: Low doses of casual, lifelong exercise do not prevent the decreased compliance and distensibility observed with healthy, sedentary aging. In contrast, 4 to 5 exercise sessions/week throughout adulthood prevent most of these age-related changes. As LV stiffening has been implicated in the pathophysiology of many cardiovascular conditions affecting the elderly, this "dose" of exercise training may have important implications for prevention of cardiovascular disease.
AB - BACKGROUND: Sedentary aging has deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system, including decreased left ventricular compliance and distensibility (LVCD). Conversely, Masters level athletes, who train intensively throughout adulthood, retain youthful LVCD.OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that preservation of LVCD may be possible with moderate lifelong exercise training.METHODS: Healthy seniors (n = 102) were recruited from predefined populations, screened for lifelong patterns of exercise training, and stratified into 4 groups: "sedentary" (<2 sessions/week); "casual" (2 to 3 sessions/week); "committed" (4 to 5 sessions/week); and "competitive" Masters level athletes (6 to 7 sessions/week). Right heart catheterization and echocardiography were performed while preload was manipulated using lower body negative pressure and rapid saline infusion to define LV pressure-volume relationships and Frank-Starling curves.RESULTS: Peak oxygen uptake and LV mass increased with escalating doses of lifelong exercise, with little change in systolic function. At baseline, LV distensibility was greater in committed (21%) and competitive (36%) exercisers than in sedentary subjects. Group LV stiffness constants (sedentary: 0.062 ± 0.039; casual: 0.079 ± 0.052; committed: 0.055 ± 0.033; and competitive: 0.035 ± 0.033) revealed: 1) increased stiffness in sedentary subjects compared to competitive athletes, whereas lifelong casual exercise had no effect; and 2) greater compliance in committed exercisers than in sedentary or casual exercisers.CONCLUSIONS: Low doses of casual, lifelong exercise do not prevent the decreased compliance and distensibility observed with healthy, sedentary aging. In contrast, 4 to 5 exercise sessions/week throughout adulthood prevent most of these age-related changes. As LV stiffening has been implicated in the pathophysiology of many cardiovascular conditions affecting the elderly, this "dose" of exercise training may have important implications for prevention of cardiovascular disease.
KW - aging
KW - diastolic function
KW - distensibility
KW - exercise training
KW - hemodynamics
KW - ventricular compliance
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jacc.2014.03.062
DO - 10.1016/j.jacc.2014.03.062
M3 - Article
C2 - 25236519
AN - SCOPUS:84908030126
SN - 0735-1097
VL - 64
SP - 1257
EP - 1266
JO - Journal of the American College of Cardiology
JF - Journal of the American College of Cardiology
IS - 12
ER -