title: A systems analysis of age-related changes in some cardiac aging traits.
abstract: Aging process or senescence affects the expression of a wide range of phenotypic traits throughout the life span of organisms. These traits often show modular, synergistic, and even antagonistic relationships, and are also influenced by genomic, developmental, physiological and environmental factors. The cardiovascular system (CVS) in humans represents a major modular system in which the relationships among physiological, anatomical and morphological traits undergo continuous remodeling throughout the life span of an individual. Here we extend the concept of developmental plasticity in order to study the relationships among 14 traits measured on 3,412 individuals from the Framingham Heart Study cohort, relative to age and gender, using exploratory structural equation modeling-a form of systems analysis. Our results reveal differing patterns of association among cardiac traits in younger and older persons in both sexes, indicating that physiological and developmental factors may be channeled differentially in relation to age and gender during the remodeling process. We suggest that systems approaches are necessary in order to understand the coordinated functional relationships among traits of the CVS over the life course of individuals.
authors: Division of Gerontology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, USA, drgrajugis@gmail.com.
authors: D R
authors: DR
authors: Govindaraju
authors: K M
authors: KM
authors: Pencina
authors: D S
authors: DS
authors: Raj
authors: J M
authors: JM
authors: Massaro
authors: B A
authors: BA
authors: Carnes
authors: R B
authors: RB
authors: D'Agostino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D013597:Systems Analysis