title: Lipid changes with aging in cardiac mitochondrial membranes.
abstract: Mitochondrial membranes were isolated from the myocardium of young (4-month-old) and aged (33-month-old) male Long-Evans rats and compared in terms of cholesterol content and phospholipid and fatty acid composition. In aged rats, as compared to young, the major observations include: markedly higher cholesterol content; increased percentage of sphingomyelin and diphosphatidylglycerol (cardiolipin); in fatty acids, variable changes, with a predominant increase in the 16:0 in most phospholipids except cardiolipin, and sporadic increase in the longer chain (20:0, 24:0) fatty acids in cardiolipin; decreased unsaturation index for most phospholipids but increased for cardiolipin. These results are tentatively interpreted as indicative of an aging-related decrease in fluidity and energy transduction of mitochondrial membrane in the heart of aged rats and may be responsible, in part, for the decrements in cardiac function with aging.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D002308:Cardiolipins / Q000378:metabolism; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008560:Membrane Fluidity; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D008929:Mitochondria, Heart / Q000378:metabolism*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D013367:Submitochondrial Particles / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002308:Cardiolipins; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D010743:Phospholipids; D002784:Cholesterol