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The Acute Effects of Age and Particulate Matter Exposure on Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability in Mice

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Abstract

Exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) is associated with increased cardiac morbidity and mortality with the elderly considered to be the most susceptible. The purpose of this study was to determine if exposure to PM would cause a greater impact on heart regulation in older DBA/2 (D2) male mice as determined by changes in heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). D2 mice at the ages of 4, 12, and 19 months were instilled with 100 µg of PM or saline by aspiration. Before and after the aspiration, 3-min echocardiogram (ECG) samples for HR and HRV were recorded at 15-min intervals for 3 h along with corresponding measurements of homeostasis, such as temperature, metabolism, and ventilation. PM exposure resulted in an increase in HRV, declines in HR, and altered measures of homeostasis for a subset of the 12-mo mice. The PM aspiration did not affect cardiac or homeostasis parameters in the 4- or 19-mo mice. Our results suggest that a select group of middle-age mice are more susceptible to alterations in their heart rhythm after PM exposure and highlight that there are acute age-related differences in heart rhythm following PM exposure.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Shinohara of University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology for statistical support. From Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Science, we would like to thank R. Rabold for his assistance with the telemetry surgeries, H. Lee for helping with the experiments, and J. Mihalic for measuring the particulate matter composition.

Funding

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (T32 HL007534); National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging (R01 AG021057); and the Environmental Protection Agency (RD-83241701).

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Correspondence to Blake A. Bennett.

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Bennett, B.A., Spannhake, E.W., Rule, A.M. et al. The Acute Effects of Age and Particulate Matter Exposure on Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability in Mice. Cardiovasc Toxicol 18, 507–519 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12012-018-9461-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12012-018-9461-3

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