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Exercise promotes healthy cardiovascular aging

LI Min¹, FENG Meng-Ya^1,2, FENG Zi-Hang¹, LI Jia¹, ZHANG Xing^1,*, GAO Feng¹

¹Department of Aerospace Medicine, Air Force Medical University, Xi’an 710032, China；²School of Life Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, Ministry of Education, Mitochondrial Biomedical Research Institute, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an important factor threatening the health of the elderly. Aging leads to changes in the structure and function of the cardiovascular system, which increases the risk of CVD in the elderly. Cardiac aging is characterized by increased left ventricular wall thickness, increased degree of myocardial fibrosis, increased cardiac hardness, and decreased cardiac function, while vascular aging is characterized by enlarged lumen, thickened wall, and endothelial dysfunction. Promoting healthy cardiovascular aging means reducing the age-related cardiovascular dysfunction and the risks of CVD. Exercise is a crucial means for the treatment and rehabilitation of CVD. Exercise reduces the risk factors of CVD, remodels the cardiovascular structure, and increases the resistance of heart to detrimental stimulus, which promotes healthy cardiovascular aging. The improved mitochondrial function via exercise plays a key role in the health effects of exercise. In addition, exercise promotes the secretion of exerkines in various tissues and organs, which plays a role in reducing inflammation, improving metabolism, inhibiting apoptosis, etc., thus benefiting cardiovascular health. This review discusses the mechanism and potential application of exercise in promoting healthy cardiovascular aging. Exploring the specific mechanisms underlying exercise-induced cardiovascular health and formulating accurate exercise prescriptions for different populations is an important direction to promote healthy cardiovascular aging and prevent CVD.

Key words: Exercise; cardiovascular aging; mitochondria; exerkine

Received: 　　Accepted:

Corresponding author: 张星　　E-mail: zhangxing@fmmu.edu.cn

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2023.0091

Citing This Article：

LI Min, FENG Meng-Ya, FENG Zi-Hang, LI Jia, ZHANG Xing, GAO Feng. Exercise promotes healthy cardiovascular aging. Acta Physiol Sin 2023; 75 (6): 887-902 (in Chinese with English abstract).