Skip Navigation

Cardiovascular Research 2002 54(1):25-35; doi:10.1016/S0008-6363(01)00533-8
© 2002 by European Society of Cardiology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Khan, A. S.
Right arrow Articles by Sonntag, W. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Khan, A. S.
Right arrow Articles by Sonntag, W. E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Copyright © 2002, European Society of Cardiology

Growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1 and the aging cardiovascular system

Amir S. Khana,1, David C. Saneb, Thomas Wannenburgb and William E. Sonntaga,*

aDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1083, USA
bDepartment of Cardiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1083, USA

wsonntag{at}wfubmc.edu

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-336-716-8605; fax: +1-336-716-8501

There is a large body of evidence that biological aging is related to a series of long-term catabolic processes resulting in decreased function and structural integrity of several physiological systems, among which is the cardiovascular system. These changes in the aging phenotype are correlated with a decline in the amplitude of pulsatile growth hormone secretion and the resulting decrease in plasma levels of its anabolic mediator, insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). The relationship between growth hormone and biological aging is supported by studies demonstrating that growth hormone administration to old animals and humans raises plasma IGF-1 and results in increases in skeletal muscle and lean body mass, a decrease in adiposity, increased immune function, improvements in learning and memory, and increases in cardiovascular function. Since growth hormone and IGF-1 exert potent effects on the heart and vasculature, the relationship between age-related changes in cardiovascular function and the decline in growth hormone levels with age have become of interest. Among the age-related changes in the cardiovascular system are decreases in myocyte number, accumulation of fibrosis and collagen, decreases in stress-induced cardiac function through deterioration of the myocardial conduction system and β-adrenergic receptor function, decreases in exercise capacity, vessel rarefaction, decreased arterial compliance and endothelial dysfunction leading to alterations in blood flow. Growth hormone has been found to exert potent effects on cardiovascular function in young animals and reverses many of the deficits in cardiovascular function in aged animals and humans. Nevertheless, it has been difficult to separate the effects of growth hormone deficiency from age-related diseases and associated pathologies. The development of novel animal models and additional research are required in order to elucidate the specific effects of growth hormone deficiency and assess its contribution to cardiovascular impairments and biological aging.

KEYWORDS Ageing; Growth factors; Hormones

1 Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Texas Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.