Key result
Male aging is linked to losing ~1 g/year of myocardium, while women preserve myocardial mass.
Why the study?
Differences in life span between women and men may be related to better preservation of myocardial structure in the female heart, leading to the hypothesis that aging differently impacts myocardial integrity across genders.
Observational (n=106)
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Review reveals distinct patterns of cardiac aging between men and women, highlighting sex-specific risks for heart disease.
OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the changes in myocyte size and number in the left and right ventricles that occur with aging in the female and male heart. BACKGROUND: Differences in life span between women and men may be related to a better preservation of myocardial structure in the female heart with aging. On this basis, the hypothesis was advanced that the aging process has a different impact on the integrity of the myocardium in the two genders. METHODS: Morphometric methodologies were applied to analyze the changes in number and size of ventricular myocytes in the hearts of 53 women and 53 men. The changes in mononucleated and binucleated myocytes with age were determined in enzymatically dissociated cells. The age interval examined varied from 17 to 95 years. RESULTS: Aging was associated with a preservation of ventricular myocardial mass, aggregate number of mononucleated and binucleated myocytes, average cell diameter and volume in the female heart. In contrast, nearly 1 g/year of myocardium was lost in the male heart, and this phenomenon accounted for the loss of approximately 64 million cells. This detrimental effect involved the left and right sides of the heart. In the remaining cells, myocyte cell volume increased at a rate of 158 microns3/year in the left and 167 microns3/year in the right ventricle. CONCLUSIONS: Aging does not lead to myocyte cell loss and myocyte cellular reactive hypertrophy in women, indicating that gender differences may play a significant role in the detrimental effects of the aging process on the heart.
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Olivetti et al. (1995) conducted an observational in Aging (n=106). Male gender vs. Female gender was evaluated on Changes in myocyte size and number in the left and right ventricles with aging. Aging in men was associated with a loss of nearly 1 g/year of myocardium and approximately 64 million cells, whereas myocardial mass and cell number were preserved in women.
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