Aging of a class of arteries in various mammalian species in relation to the life span.

Age-related sclerosis of human renocortical arteries is associated with essential hypertension and limitation of the life span by cardiovascular mortality. Arteries in the kidneys of nonprimate species, examined here, showed near absence of arteriosclerosis when the average life span was less than 12 years and small amounts of sclerosis in longer-lived species. The fastest progression of arteriosclerosis was, paradoxically, in the longest-lived species, the human and the macaque. Results are incompatible with theories of aging that include arteriosclerosis within the framework of mechanisms that are proposed to explain the life spans of species.