A study conducted by an international research team, in collaboration with the University of Coimbra (UC), reveals new information about the heart's natural aging mechanism, which may have a potential impact on the onset of cardiovascular diseases. The scientists believe that this discovery may, in the future, contribute to new forms of early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, and also to the development of therapies for the prevention of these pathologies.
 

The results of this discovery are available in the scientific article Cardiac Molecular Analysis Reveals Aging-Associated Metabolic Alterations Promoting Glycosaminoglycans Accumulation via Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway, published in the journal Advanced Science, with the participation of three researchers from the UC Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC-UC) and the Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CiBB): Luís Grilo (first author of the study), Paulo Oliveira and Susana Pereira (senior authors).
 

So far, it is known that heart-related diseases are more prevalent in older age. However, it is not known how exclusively physiological ageing - that is, 'natural' ageing, which results, in particular, in the decline of certain physical and cognitive abilities and the loss of organic functions, which can lead to diseases - can have an impact on the functioning of the heart. In this sense, the UC researchers stress that “knowing the first symptoms of cardiac ageing may be relevant for the early detection and prevention of cardiac dysfunction”.
 

Against this backdrop, the research team sought to identify the cascade of molecular mechanisms responsible for the relationship between the natural ageing of the heart and cardiac dysfunction, using healthy non-human primate models with physiology very close to that of the human heart.
 

The scientists were able to “identify that the cardiac adaptations derived from aging begin with metabolic changes in the heart cells,” they point out. In more detail, it was possible to see that “with age, the heart uses more glucose for the synthesis of molecules, which accumulate in the walls of the heart during aging; in an initial phase, this accumulation promotes the stiffening of the heart walls and, in a second phase, cardiac hypertrophy,” explain Luís Grilo, Paulo Oliveira and Susana Pereira. “These two consequences are directly related to the development of cardiovascular diseases,” stresses the team from the University of Coimbra.
 

Cardiovascular diseases are currently the leading cause of death in the world. In addition to this major impact on mortality, “a significant number of people with this type of pathology require specific and ongoing care - such as tests and medication - which results in high costs for the individual and for health systems,” the researchers report.
 

In this context, the discovery presented in this study could contribute to improving diagnosis and, consequently, reducing mortality. “By identifying molecular events that occur naturally in the heart before the onset of heart disease, as we did in this study, we open the door to the development of new forms of early diagnosis, preventing deaths and reducing the costs associated with the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases,” say Luís Grilo, Paulo Oliveira and Susana Pereira.
 

The research team from the University of Coimbra says that this study could pave the way for the “development of non-invasive methods to detect the accumulation of molecules in the human heart, thus improving current diagnostic techniques”. “It will also be crucial to investigate and test new pharmacological approaches in the future that can prevent the accumulation of molecules in the walls of the heart and, consequently, prevent its stiffening,” say Luís Grilo, Paulo Oliveira and Susana Pereira.
 

Researchers from several universities based in the United States - Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the University of Wyoming and the University of Texas - as well as the Texas Biomedical Research Institute also took part in this study. The Sports Faculty of the University of Porto also collaborated.
 

The scientific article is available here.

Catarina Ribeiro w/ CNC-UC