Enhanced chronotropic and inotropic responses of rat myocardium to cholinergic stimulus with aging

The ability of the heart to respond to adrenergic stimulation diminishes with aging, and this may be one of the factors contributing to the age-associated decline in cardiac stress responsiveness. On the other hand, little is known about the impact of aging on the responsiveness of the heart to cholinergic stimulation. In this study, we determined the chronotropic and inotropic responses of the isolated, Langendorff-perfused hearts from adult (6–8 months) and aged (28–30 months) rats to cholinergic agonists so as to assess age-related alterations in postsynaptic cholinergic control of heart function. The results showed the following. (i) In isolated perfused spontaneously beating rat hearts, the negative chronotropic response to acetylcholine (10 −9 –10 −5 M) was up to 4-fold greater in the aged compared with adult hearts; this age-related difference was less marked (2-fold) but not abolished in the presence of a maximally effective concentration (5 μM) of the cholinesterase inhibitor eserine. (ii) The cholinesterase-resistant agonist carbachol (10 −9 –2.5 × 10 −6 M) elicited a 2- to 3-fold greater negative chronotropic response in the aged compared with adult hearts. (iii) In isolated perfused, electrically paced (4 Hz) rat hearts, carbachol (10 −9 –10 −3 M) elicited a concentration-dependent negative inotropic response, which was 2-fold greater in the aged compared with adult heart at all carbachol concentrations, (iv) Acetylcholinesterase activities (micromoles per gram per hour) were 50–60% lower in the aged atria (83 ± 21) and ventricles (24 ± 6) than in adult atria (210 ± 20) and ventricles (47 ± 7). (v) No significant age-related difference was observed in the specific binding of (–)-[ 3 H]quinuclidinyl benzilate to muscarinic receptor sites in atria or ventricles. These findings demonstrate a striking enhancement in the responses of the heart to cholinergic stimulus with aging, which can be attributed in part, but not solely to age-associated decline in cholinesterase activity. Age-associated alterations in muscarinic receptor linked events may also underlie the cholinergic hypersensitivity of the aging heart.