Effects of age and gender on the cardiovascular responses to isoproterenol

Michael J. Turner, Constance M. Mier, Robert J. Spina, Kenneth B. Schechtman, Ali A. Ehsani

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

We studied the effects of age and gender on cardiovascular responses to β-adrenergic stimulation with the use of two-dimensional echocardiography in 16 young (aged 20-31) and 20 older (aged 60-75) healthy individuals. Following administration of atropine, each subject was given an infusion of isoproterenol at incremental doses from 0.010 to 0.030 μg kg-1 min-1. The slopes of the fractional shortening-end-systolic wall stress (FS-{es)) relationships were steeper in the young men (-0.87 ± 0.28, n = 8) compared to the older men (-0.41 ± 0.13, n = 10), and in the young women (-0.55 ± 0.14, n = 8) compared to the older women (-0.38 ± 0.13, n = 10). Furthermore, the magnitude of the age-associated differences in these slopes was larger in the men (old vs young) than in the women (old vs young) which, in the absence of changes in preload, suggests a greater decline in the contractile response to isoproterenol with advancing age in men compared to women. Furthermore, the men exhibited a greater attenuation of chronotropic response to isoproterenol than did the women. These observations suggest that gender plays a significant role in the age-associated decline in inotropic and chronotropic responses to β-adrenergic stimulation, with men exhibiting a greater decline with aging than women.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)B393-B400
JournalJournals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
Volume54
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1999

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of age and gender on the cardiovascular responses to isoproterenol'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this