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Expressions of cardiac sympathetic norepinephrine transporter and β1-adrenergic receptor decreased in aged rats

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Abstract

Evidence suggests that the deterioration of communication between the sympathetic nervous system and cardiovascular system always accompanies the aging of human and animals. Cardiac sympathetic norepinephrine (NE) transporter (NET) on presynaptic membrane is a predominant component to eliminate released NE in the synaptic cleft and maintains the sensitivity of the β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR). In the present study, we investigated NET and β1-AR mRNA levels and sympathetic nerve density in cardiac sympathetic ganglion and left ventricular myocardium in 2- and 16-month-old rats with Northern blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The expression levels of NET mRNA, NET protein and β1-AR mRNA in the ganglia or myocardia of 16-month-old rats were markedly reduced by 67%, 26%, and 43%, respectively, in comparison with those in 2-month-old rats. Our results also show that aging induces a strong decrease of the catecholaminergic nerve fiber density.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiovascular Division, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Pingjin Hospital, Medical College of Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, Institute of Cardiovascular Disease of Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, Tianjin, 300162, China

    He Li, Xiao-qing Ma, Fan Ye, Jing Zhang, Xin Zhou, Zhi-hong Wang & Yu-ming Li

  2. Cardiovascular Division, Changzheng Hospital, Shanghai, 200003, China

    He Li & Guo-yuan Zhang

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  1. He Li
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  2. Xiao-qing Ma
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  5. Xin Zhou
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Correspondence to He Li.

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Project supported by the Postdoctoral Fellow Foundation of the Science and Technology Committee of Shanghai (No. 98–10) and the Natural Science Foundation of Chinese People’s Armed Police Force (Nos. WKH2006-5 and WKH2008ZO4), China

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Li, H., Ma, Xq., Ye, F. et al. Expressions of cardiac sympathetic norepinephrine transporter and β1-adrenergic receptor decreased in aged rats. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. B 10, 203–210 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B0820213

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