Effects of Food Restriction on Mechanical Properties of Arterial System in Adult and Middle-Aged Rats

The effects of food restriction on the mechanical properties of the vasculature were determined in Long-Evans male rats with different ages. Rats that began food restriction at the ages of 6 months and 12 months were fed on alternate days for 6 months. Rats at the ages of 12 and 18 months were refer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences Biological sciences and medical sciences, 1999-10, Vol.54 (10), p.B441-B447
Main Authors: Chang, Kuo-Chu, Chow, Chai-Yee, Peng, Ying-I, Chen, Tong-J, Tsai, Yuan-Feen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Aging - physiology
Anatomy & physiology
Animals
Aorta - physiology
Arteries - physiology
Biomechanical Phenomena
Diet
Food Deprivation - physiology
Hemodynamics
Hypertension
Male
Models, Cardiovascular
Rats
Rodents
Sympathetic Nervous System - physiology
Vascular Resistance
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Summary:The effects of food restriction on the mechanical properties of the vasculature were determined in Long-Evans male rats with different ages. Rats that began food restriction at the ages of 6 months and 12 months were fed on alternate days for 6 months. Rats at the ages of 12 and 18 months were referred to as adult and middle-aged rats and were anesthetized and thoracotomized. The exponentially tapered T-tube model was employed to relate pulsatile pressure and flow signals measured in the ascending aorta. In each age group, food restriction elicited a decrease in body weight as well as basal heart rate but showed no significant change in cardiac output. Arterial blood pressure, total peripheral resistance, and aortic characteristic impedance were not affected by food restriction in middle-aged rats. However, adult food-restricted rats exhibited lower mean arterial blood pressure (99.1 ± 3.1 mmHg) than did adult ad libitum-fed rats (110.7 ± 3.0 mmHg). Total peripheral resistance was reduced from 0.645 ± 0.045 mmHg-min-kg/ml in adult ad libitum-fed rats to 0.492 ± 0.030 mmHg-min-kg/ml in adult food-restricted rats. Moreover, aortic characteristic impedance of adult food-restricted rats (0.014 ± 0.001 mmHg-min-kg/ml) was lower than that of adult ad libitum-fed rats (0.024 ± 0.002 mmHg-min-kg/ml). Neither age nor diet exerted effects on wave transit time and produced no changes in aortic distensibility. In conclusion, food restriction may elicit significant changes in the mechanical properties of both Windkessel vessels and resistance arterioles in adult rats, but not in middle-aged rats.
ISSN:1079-5006
1758-535X
DOI:10.1093/gerona/54.10.B441