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© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Simple Summary

Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, and age is an important contributing factor. Preclinical models are crucial for exploring and understanding the physiology of the heart and age-related changes, as well as cardiac pathological aspects. In line with this, the Octodon degus (O. degus) is a diurnal rodent that has been claimed as an interesting model for aging research. However, several aspects of this experimental model are not fully characterized yet. In this work, we evaluated the cardiac electric activity by electrocardiogram recording in the aging process, considering differences between males and females. We provide the normal ranges for the heart rate, duration and voltage of the ECG waves and intervals, as well as electrical axis deviation. Our results demonstrate that both age and sex influence the cardiac function and the incidence of arrhythmias. Therefore, this research indicates that this rodent model could be useful for cardiovascular research, including impacts of aging and biological sex.

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, and age is an important risk factor. Preclinical models provide supportive evidence toward age-related cardiac changes, as well as allow for the study of pathological aspects of the disease. In the present work, we evaluated the electrocardiogram (ECG) recording in the O. degus during the aging process in both females and males. Taking into account the age and sex, our study provides the normal ranges for the heart rate, duration and voltage of the ECG waves and intervals, as well as electrical axis deviation. We found that the QRS complex duration and QTc significantly increased with age, whereas the heart rate significantly decreased. On the other hand, the P wave, PR and QTc segments durations, S wave voltage and electrical axis were found to be significantly different between males and females. The heart rhythm was also altered in aged animals, resulting in an increased incidence of arrhythmias, especially in males. Based on these results, we suggest that this rodent model could be useful for cardiovascular research, including impacts of aging and biological sex.

Details

Title
Age and Sex Determine Electrocardiogram Parameters in the Octodon degus
Author
Cuenca-Bermejo, Lorena 1 ; Fernández-Del Palacio, María Josefa 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Valeria de Cassia Gonçalves 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bautista-Hernández, Víctor 4 ; Sánchez-Rodrigo, Consuelo 1 ; Fernández-Villalba, Emiliano 1 ; Kublickiene, Karolina 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Raparelli, Valeria 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Kautzky-Willer, Alexandra 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Norris, Colleen M 8 ; Pilote, Louise 9 ; María Trinidad Herrero 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Clinical & Experimental Neuroscience (NiCE), Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia (IMIB-Pascual Parrilla), University of Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain; [email protected] (L.C.-B.); [email protected] (V.d.C.G.); [email protected] (C.S.-R.); [email protected] (E.F.-V.); Institute for Aging Research (IUIE), Campus Mare Nostrum, European University for Wellbeing (EUniWell), 30100 Murcia, Spain 
 Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain 
 Clinical & Experimental Neuroscience (NiCE), Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia (IMIB-Pascual Parrilla), University of Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain; [email protected] (L.C.-B.); [email protected] (V.d.C.G.); [email protected] (C.S.-R.); [email protected] (E.F.-V.); Disciplina de Neurociência, Departamento de Neurologia e Neurocirurgia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo 04039-032, Brazil 
 Congenital Heart Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; [email protected] 
 Division of Renal Medicine, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden; [email protected] 
 Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, 44124 Ferrara, Italy; [email protected]; University Center for Studies on Gender Medicine, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy 
 Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] 
 Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada; [email protected]; Cardiovascular and Stroke Strategic Clinical Network, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB T5J 3E4, Canada 
 Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre, McGill University, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1, Canada; [email protected] 
First page
747
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20797737
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2819339424
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.