Key result
E/A ratios declined significantly with age in female naked mole rats (p = 0.002) but not in males (p = 0.45), though neither gender showed increased morbidity or mortality.
Cross-Sectional (n=76)
No
p-value: p=0.002
Sex-specific E/A changes without morbidity in mole rats are hypothesis-generating; leaves open relevance to human diastolic dysfunction.
The naked mole rat is an extremely long-lived (>31 years) small (35 g) rodent. Moreover, it maintains good health for most of its long life. We hypothesized that naked mole rats also show attenuated cardiac aging. With age, cardiac muscle can become less compliant, causing a decline in early diastolic filling (E) and a compensatory increase in atrial contraction-induced late filling (A). This results in decreased left ventricular E/A ratio. Doppler imaging showed no significant differences in E/A ratios (p = .48) among old (18-20 years) breeders and nonbreeders despite differences in estrogen levels. A cross-sectional study of 1- to 20-year-old naked mole rats (n = 76) revealed that E/A ratios declined with age in females (n = 40; p = .002) but not in males (n = 36; p = 0.45). Despite this, neither gender shows increased morbidity or mortality with age. These findings suggest that, notwithstanding the previously observed high lipid peroxidation in heart tissue, NMRs must possess mechanisms to stave off progression to fatal cardiac disease.
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Grimes et al. (2012) conducted a cross-sectional in Diastolic heart function and aging (n=76). Aging vs. Younger age was evaluated on Age-related change in early diastolic filling/atrial contraction-induced late filling (E/A) ratio (p=0.002). E/A ratios declined significantly with age in female naked mole rats (p = 0.002) but not in males (p = 0.45), though neither gender showed increased morbidity or mortality.
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