Expressions of cardiac sympathetic norepinephrine transporter and β1-adrenergic receptor decreased in aged rats

Evidence suggests that the deterioration of communication between the sympathetic nervous system and cardiovas-cular system always accompanies the aging of human and animals. Cardiac sympathetic norepinephrine (NE) transporter (NET) on presynaptic membrane is a predominant component to eliminate released NE in the synaptic cleff and maintains the sensitivity of the β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR). In the present study, we investigated NET and β1-AR mRNA levels and sympathetic nerve density in cardiac sympathetic ganglion and leff ventricular myocardium in 2- and 16-month-old rats with Northern blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The expression levels of NET mRNA, NET protein and β1-AR mRNA in the ganglia or myocardia of 16-month-old rats were markedly reduced by 67%, 26%, and 43%, respectively, in comparison with those in 2-month-old rats. Our results also show that aging induces a strong decrease of the catecholaminergic nerve fiber density.