title: Ischemic preconditioning in the younger and aged heart.
abstract: Ischemic preconditioning is the effect of brief ischemic episodes which protect the heart from the following more prolonged ischemic episode. This mechanism is effective in younger but not in aged heart. The age-related reduction of ischemic preconditioning has been demonstrated in experimental models and in elderly patients. Preinfarction angina, a clinical equivalent of ischemic preconditioning, reduces mortality in adult but not in elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction. Physical activity or caloric restriction is partially capable to preserve the cardioprotective effect of ischemic preconditioning in the aging heart. More importantly, physical activity and caloric restriction in tandem action completely preserve the protective mechanism of ischemic preconditioning. Accordingly, the protective mechanism of preinfarction angina is preserved in elderly patients with a high grade of physical activity or a low body-mass index. Thus, both physical activity and caloric restriction are confirmed as powerful anti-aging interventions capable to restore age-dependent reduction of a critical endogenous protective mechanism such as ischemic preconditioning.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica, Scienze Cardiovascolari ed Immunologiche, Cattedra di Geriatria, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abete
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Testa
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cacciatore
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Della-Morte
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galizia
authors.forename: Assunta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langellotto
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rengo