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Cardiac Function in Young and Old Little Mice

Departments of ¹ Medicine, ² Molecular and Human Genetics, ³ Pathology, ⁴ Huffington Center on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. ⁵ The Methodist DeBakey Heart Center, Houston, Texas.

Address correspondence to Anilkumar K. Reddy, PhD, One Baylor Plaza, MS BCM620, Houston, TX 77030. E-mail: areddy{at}bcm.edu

We studied cardiac function in young and old, wild-type (WT), and longer-living Little mice using cardiac flow velocities, echocardiographic measurements, and left ventricular (LV) pressure (P) to determine if enhanced reserves were in part responsible for longevity in these mice. Resting/baseline cardiac function, as measured by velocities, LV dimensions, +dP/dt_max, and –dP/dt_max, was significantly lower in young Little mice versus young WT mice. Fractional shortening (FS) increased significantly, and neither +dP/dt_max nor –dP/dt_max declined with age in Little mice. In contrast, old WT mice had no change in FS but had significantly lower +dP/dt_max and –dP/dt_max versus young WT mice. Significant decreases were observed in the velocity indices of old Little mice versus old WT mice, but other parameters were unchanged. The magnitude of dobutamine stress response remained unchanged with age in Little mice, while that in WT mice decreased. These data suggest that while resting cardiac function in Little mice versus WT mice is lower at young age, it is relatively unaltered with aging. Additionally, cardiac function in response to stress was maintained with age in Little mice but not in their WT counterparts. Thus, some mouse models of increased longevity may not be associated with enhanced reserves.