title: Growth hormone increases regional coronary blood flow and capillary density in aged rats.
abstract: In this study, we examined the effects of age and growth hormone replacement on both coronary blood flow and capillary density. Blood flow was measured by using [(14)C]-iodoantipyrine in three groups of anesthetized Brown Norway x Fischer 344 rats: young vehicle-treated animals (6 months; n = 13), old vehicle treated animals (30 months; n = 9), and old animals treated with bovine growth hormone (200 microg/kg) twice a day for 30 days (30 months; n = 7). Capillary density was measured by color segmentation analysis of sections stained for platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1. In all regions examined, coronary blood flow decreased with age, and growth hormone administration resulted in an increase in flow compared to vehicle-treated animals. Capillary density decreased with age in the apex and the left ventricular middle segment. In response to growth hormone administration, capillary density increased significantly in the apex but not in other regions of the heart. Our results demonstrate that growth hormone enhances regional myocardial blood flow in the aged heart and suggest that part of this effect could be due to an increase in capillary density.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1083, USA.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Sane
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Willingham
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Sonntag
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002196:Capillaries / Q000473:pathology*; D002199:Capillary Permeability / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011336:Probability; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D013006:Growth Hormone