Beta-adrenergic-mediated improvement in left ventricular function by exercise training in older men.

To test the hypothesis that the training-induced improvement in the age-related decline in left ventricular (LV) function is mediated by enhanced inotropic responses to beta-adrenergic stimulation, 10 sedentary healthy men, 65 +/- 1 yr (mean +/- SE) of age, exercised for 9 mo, which resulted in a 28% increase in aerobic exercise capacity. Training induced a greater increase in LV systolic shortening, assessed with two-dimensional echocardiography, in response to isoproterenol with a steeper slope of the fractional shortening-end-systolic wall stress (sigma es) relationship and an upward shift of the sigma es-systolic diameter relationship without an acute increase in heart rate or preload. The increase in the early-to-late diastolic flow velocity ratio, normalized for heart rate and preload, in response to isoproterenol was larger after training. LV systolic reserve and cardiac output during peak exercise were higher after training. beta-Adrenergic blockade with esmolol HCl abolished the adaptive increases in LV systolic reserve capacity and cardiac output during peak exercise in the trained state. The results suggest that one of the underlying mechanisms responsible for the adaptive increase in LV systolic function in response to exercise training is an enhanced inotropic sensitivity to catecholamines. Furthermore, the enhanced inotropic responses are associated with increased diastolic filling.