title: Investigation of the effects of aging on the expression of aquaporin 1 and aquaporin 4 protein in heart tissue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Aquaporin (AQP) 1 and AQP 4 are expressed in human heart and several studies have been focused on these two aquaporins. For this purpose, the present study is aimed to research the effects of aging on AQP 1 and AQP 4 in heart tissue.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, 14 Balb/C type white mice were used. Animals were divided into two equal groups. Group I consisted of 2-month-old young animals (n=7), and group II consisted of 18-month-old animals (n=7). To determine the AQP1 and AQP4 expression in the myocardium, the heart tissue was removed to perform western blotting and immunohistochemical and histopathological evaluations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Muscle fibers of the heart in aged animals were more irregular and loosely organized in hematoxylin-eosin (H-E) stained sections. Hscore analysis revealed that AQP1 and AQP4 immunoreactivity significantly increased in heart tissues of old mice compared with those of young mice (p<0.001). In addition, AQP1 and AQP4 protein expressions in the tissues of old animals were increased significantly according to western blot analysis (p=0.018 and p<0.001 for AQP1 and AQP4, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased AQP1 and AQP4 levels in the heart tissue may be correlated with the maintenance of water and electrolytes balance, which decreases with aging. In this context, it might be the result of a compensatory response to decreased AQP4 functions. In addition, this increase with aging as demonstrated in our study might be one of the factors that increases the tendency of ischemia in elder people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Şifa University; İzmir-Turkey. hikmetbicakci@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Hikmet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bıçakçı
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Şifa University; İzmir-Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarsılmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziosmanpaşa University; Tokat-Turkey.
authors.forename: Seda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ocaklı
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziosmanpaşa University; Tokat-Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uysal
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziosmanpaşa University; Tokat-Turkey.
authors.forename: Hilal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Irmak Sapmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Şifa University; İzmir-Turkey.
authors.forename: Tolgahan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Acar
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Şifa University; İzmir-Turkey.
authors.forename: İsmet
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Demirtaş
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Şifa University; İzmir-Turkey.
authors.forename: Rauf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Açıkgöz
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D051398:Aquaporin 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D051401:Aquaporin 4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D051401:Aquaporin 4; D051398:Aquaporin 1