de Carvalho Filho E T, de Carvalho C A, de Souza R R
Department of Anatomy, Hospital das Clínicas, São Paulo University, Brazil.
Gerontology. 1996;42(4):211-7. doi: 10.1159/000213795.
The effects of age on the human heart elastic fibers were studied by light and electron microscopy. Studies were done on 15 hearts from male subjects 42 days to 87 years of age. Using specific staining procedures, the length of elastic fibers was determined by morphometry in the parenchyma of right and left ventricles. These studies suggest that the length of elastic fibers per unit heart volume is present early in life, possibly at birth, and thereafter remains constant until adulthood. Average fiber length increases significantly beyond the third decade of life which can be interpreted as a continuous formation of new fibers and a continuous apposition of elastic-type material to these fibers. Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of mature elastic fibers at birth, since they contained amorphous substance (elastin) surrounded by numerous microfibrils. In the adult hearts, the amount of amorphous substance has increased and the number of microfibrils has decreased. With advancing age the amorphous substance forms areas of rarefaction and the microfibrils have disappeared. Whether or not such morphometric modifications could influence the elastic properties of the ventricular myocardium requires further study.
通过光学显微镜和电子显微镜研究了年龄对人类心脏弹性纤维的影响。对15例年龄从42天到87岁男性受试者的心脏进行了研究。使用特定的染色程序，通过形态测量法测定左右心室实质中弹性纤维的长度。这些研究表明，每单位心脏体积的弹性纤维长度在生命早期就已存在，可能在出生时就有，此后一直保持恒定直至成年。平均纤维长度在生命的第三个十年之后显著增加，这可以解释为新纤维的持续形成以及弹性型物质在这些纤维上的持续附着。电子显微镜证实出生时就存在成熟的弹性纤维，因为它们含有被大量微原纤维包围的无定形物质（弹性蛋白）。在成人心脏中，无定形物质的数量增加，微原纤维的数量减少。随着年龄的增长，无定形物质形成稀疏区域，微原纤维消失。这种形态测量学上的改变是否会影响心室心肌的弹性特性尚需进一步研究。
