What is it about?
In this study we investigate the cellular basis of altered cardiac function seen in ageing. We have investigated some of the potential mechanisms that could predispose the aged to common age-associated cardiac diseases such as atrial fibrillation. The main finds are that cellular calcium handling is altered in atrial muscle cells in ageing and we describe the role of increased cellular calcium buffering in this process which has hitherto been unrecognised.
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Why is it important?
Ageing is associated with the development of a number of cardiac disease including heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a heart rhythm disturbance affecting part of the heart and is the most common for of arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice and can affect in teh region of 15 % of people in their 80's. Atrial fibrillation is also associated with a marked increase in mortality and morbidity and high risk of stroke. Understanding why ageing itself might predispose to these cardiac conditions may help illuminate novel therapeutic approaches to prevent or reverse their occurrence.
Perspectives
The results turned out to be quite a surprise and without careful consideration of all the factors involved it could have been so easy to misinterpret what was actually going on.
Professor Andrew Trafford
University of Manchester
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Increased Ca buffering underpins remodelling of Ca2+
handling in old sheep atrial myocytes, The Journal of Physiology, September 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1113/jp274053.
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