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. 2009 Jun;106(6):1780-4.
doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.90454.2008. Epub 2009 Mar 26.

Smaller organ mass with greater age, except for heart

Qing He  1 , Stanley Heshka, Jeanine Albu, Lawrence Boxt, Norman Krasnow, Marinos Elia, Dympna Gallagher
Affiliations

Smaller organ mass with greater age, except for heart

Qing He et al. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2009 Jun.

Abstract

Autopsy/cadaver data indicate that many organs and tissues are smaller in the elderly compared with young adults; however, in vivo data are lacking. The aim of this study was to determine whether the mass of specific high-metabolic-rate organs is different with increasing age, using MRI. Seventy-five healthy women (41 African-Americans and 34 Caucasians, age range 19-88 yr) and 36 men (8 African-Americans and 28 Caucasians, age range 19-84 yr) were studied. MRI-derived in vivo measures of brain, heart, kidneys, liver, and spleen were acquired. Left ventricular mass (LVM) was measured by either echocardiography or cardiac gated MRI. Total body fat mass and fat-free mass (FFM) were measured with a whole body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanner. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the association between the organ mass and age after adjustment for weight and height (or DXA measures of FFM), race, sex, and interactions among these variable. No statistically significant interaction was found among age, sex, and race in any regression model. Significant negative relationships between organ mass and age were found for brain (P < 0.0001), kidneys (P = 0.01), liver (P = 0.001), and spleen (P < 0.0001). A positive relationship between LVM and age was found after adjustment for FFM (P = 0.037). These findings demonstrate that age has a significant effect on brain, kidneys, liver, spleen, and heart mass. The age effect was independent of race and sex.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
A: the relationship between the mass of brain and age (scatterplots of the raw data). B: the relationship between left ventricular mass (LVM) and age (scatterplots of the raw data). C: the relationship between the mass of kidneys and age (scatterplots of the raw data). D: the relationship between the mass of liver and age (scatterplots of the raw data). E: the relationship between the mass of spleen and age (scatterplots of the raw data). Symbols: ⧫, African-American men; ▪, Caucasian men; ▴, African-American women; ×, Caucasian women.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Organ-o-penia.
    Manini TM. Manini TM. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2009 Jun;106(6):1759-60. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00315.2009. Epub 2009 Apr 9. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2009. PMID: 19359616 No abstract available.

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