Premium
Distribution of cardiac output to the brain across the lifespan
Author(s) -
Xing Changyang,
Tarumi Takashi,
Yuan Lijun,
Zhang Rong
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.lb587
Subject(s) - cardiology , cerebral blood flow , medicine , arterial stiffness , blood pressure , ejection fraction , heart rate , body mass index , pulse wave velocity , heart failure
Background Brain has a high aerobic metabolic rate. Under resting conditions, about 15~20% of cardiac output (CO) is received by the brain in healthy young adults. However, it is unclear if the distribution of CO to the brain alters across the lifespan. The purpose of this study was to measure the cerebral blood flow (CBF)/CO ratio index (CCRI) in sedentary healthy individuals with age between 21 to 80 years. Methods and Results CBF and CO were measured in 139 subjects (women 88) using phase‐contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and echocardiography. CCRI was calculated as the percentage of CBF to CO. Body mass index (BMI), cardiac systolic function (eject fraction, EF), central arterial stiffness (carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity, cfPWV), blood pressure, heart rate (HR), physical fitness (VO 2 max) were measured to assess their potential influences on the CO‐CBF relationship. Both CBF and CCRI decreased with age ( P <0.001) while CO remained unchanged ( P =0.829). Women had higher CBF and CCRI than men ( P <0.001). Univariate correlation analysis showed that BMI, cfPWV and blood pressure had negative correlations with CCRI ( P <0.01). Multivariable analysis adjusted for sex, age and age 2 showed that only BMI was negatively correlated with CCRI (β=−0.35, P <0.001). Conclusion The fraction of cardiac output distributed to the brain was reduced with normal aging and was affected significantly by BMI. These findings provide new insights for understanding the heart‐brain relationship and has potential clinical significance for brain health with aging. Support or Funding Information This study was supported in part by the NIH grants of RC1AG036003, R01HL102457 and China Scholarship Council Fund.