Authors:

Paul William Swift

Date Created:

Not specified

Course Title:

Professor:

Not specified

About Paper:

Background: Combined aging and obesity may lead to cardiac hypertrophy and reduced cardiac function, resulting in an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. Heat therapy (HT) may be a practical, non-invasive therapy to improve cardiovascular health. Aims: We tested the hypothesis that exposure to HT would improve cardiac structure and function in a model of aging and diet-induced obesity. Methods: Male C57BL/6J mice (52 weeks old) were fed a high-fat diet and randomly assigned to receive either HT (39 degrees C; n=6) or a sham treatment (SHAM; 22 degrees C; n=8). The intervention comprised two 30-minute sessions per week for three months, three 20-minute sessions per week for three months, and four 15-minute sessions per week for the remaining five months. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed using a high-frequency ultrasound system before and after the intervention. A young control group (YC; 16 weeks old; n=8) was also assessed for comparison. Results: SHAM, but not HT, had a higher left ventricle (LV) mass (SHAM: 182+/-36 mg vs. YC: 132+/-18 mg, p=0.008) compared to YC. Both SHAM and HT had higher diastolic LV anterior wall thicknesses (SHAM: 1.21+/-0.19 vs. HT: 1.23+/-0.16 vs. YC: 0.976+/-0.072 mm, p=0.005) compared to YC. Exposure to HT had no significant impact on ejection fraction (p=0.32), stroke volume (p=0.88), fractional shortening (p=0.89), cardiac output (p=0.77), LV posterior wall thickness (systolic: p=0.85, diastolic: p=0.65), and LV diameter (systolic: p=0.24, diastolic: p=0.57). Conclusions: Episodic exposure to whole-body heat stress over 11 months does not affect cardiac structure and function in aged, obese mice. Keywords: Cardiovascular Disease; Heat Therapy; Diet-Induced Obesity; Aging

Source:

Purdue University / 2024

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Paul William Swift