The action of aging upon coronary intima and renal microvasculature in USA and Andes populations

• Published in: Mechanisms of ageing and development Vol. 123; no. 4; pp. 327 - 339
• Main Authors: Tracy, Richard E, Parra, Delia, Eisaguirre, Wilbur, Antonio Torres Balanza, R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.02.2002; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aging - pathology; Arteriolosclerosis; Atherosclerosis; Atherosclerosis (general aspects, experimental research); Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Bolivia; Cardiology. Vascular system; Coronary Artery Disease - pathology; Coronary Vessels - pathology; Disease Progression; Female; Human; Humans; Hypertension; Indians, South American; Kidney - blood supply; Louisiana; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; Nephropathies. Renovascular diseases. Renal failure; Nephrosclerosis; Renovascular diseases; Tunica Intima - pathology; United States; South America; Andes; United States; North America; America; Louisiana; Bolivia; Human; Hypertension; Nephrosclerosis; Arteriolosclerosis; Atherosclerosis; Heart; Kidney disease; Senescence; Urinary system disease; Prevalence; Coronary artery; Sex; Cardiovascular disease; Kidney; Sclerosis; Vascular disease; Microcirculation; Nephropathy; Urinary system; Blood vessel; Intima; Circulatory system; Age; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0047-6374; 1872-6216
• DOI: 10.1016/S0047-6374(01)00376-1

Full lengths of right coronary artery obtained at autopsy and examined in hematoxylin and eosin stained paraffin sections sometimes reveal the presence of at least one instance of atheroma (YesA specimens). YesA specimens are nearly always those with generalized intimal fibroplasia, measured by excessive intimal thickness per smooth muscle cell. Accumulating evidence suggests that aging governs the progression of fibroplasia, and that this fibroplasia is what aging does to the coronary artery in preparation for atheroma. Hyalinization of renal arterioles was previously found to correlate strongly with the presence of coronary atheroma and with the progression of the fibroplasia of aging in race, sex, age matched comparisons of subjects within a population (forensic autopsies in New Orleans). The data reported here reveal the correlation of arteriolar hyalinization with fibroplasia and atheroma to persist in comparisons across geographically diverse populations. The outcome suggests that aging of coronary intima, in so far as it bears upon preparation for atheroma, may vary in rate between populations. This source of variation could offer clues about environmental factors that may modify rates of aging.