RESEARCH PAPER
Healthy ageing: the beneficial effect of dietary supplementation with alpha-ketoglutarate on arterial elasticity in elderly mice
 
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1
Department of Animal and Veterinary Basic Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Copenhagen University, Frederiksberg, Denmark
 
2
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Life Sciences, Copenhagen University, Frederiksberg, Denmark
 
3
Copenhagen University Library and The Parker Institute, Frederiksberg Hospital, Denmark
 
4
Institute of Agricultural Medicine, Department of Medical Biology, Lublin, Poland, Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Sweden
 
 
Corresponding author
Adrian P. Harrison   

IBHV, LIFE, Copenhagen University, Grønnegaardsvej 7, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
 
 
J Pre Clin Clin Res. 2009;3(1):24-30
 
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The study employed mechanical stretching in vitro of sections of abdominal aorta of elderly mice to investigate any benefi ts of oral treatment with alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) on arterial elasticity. Eighteen female mice (50-weeks-old) were assigned to a control (2% w/v) Na2-AKG or (2% w/v) a Ca-AKG group, and treated for 182 days before being humanely killed. Aorta sections were exposed to increases in force (0.09 N) giving approx. 6 kPa of pressure, after which elastic recoil (N ms-1 mg-1 wet wt.) was measured. Na2-AKG treatment for 182 days induced a 30% (P <0.01) improvement, while Ca-AKG induced a 93% (P <0.001) improvement in the elastic recoil compared to controls (3.30 ± 0.08 × 10-5 N ms-1 mg-1 wet wt). AKG administered orally improved arterial elasticity in elderly mice, a change that occurred despite an increase in total collagen content. Alpha-ketoglutarate warrants further investigation as a candidate for therapies targeting arterial stiff ening with age.
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