Advancing Research
by funding Grant Programs and Fellowships
Driving Innovation
by guiding studies such as the FAST Initiative, the SuperAgers Initiative, and the TAME Trial
Furthering the Field
by supporting the infrastructure of three NIA Initiatives and leading the Amplifying Geroscience Initiative.
Top Breakthroughs driven by AFAR Experts
Delaying Disease by Targeting Aging
Saving Costs by Extending Healthspan
What are the Hallmarks of Aging?
What is Geroscience?
What is the Longevity Dividend?
Aging is the greatest risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Older adults account for more than 75% of patients with congestive heart failure in the United States. Even in older adults without cardiovascular disease, there is a high prevalence of unhealthy enlargement of the heart and a decline in its ability to relax and fill with blood, called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). There is presently no effective treatment for HFpEF or for the underlying causes of cardiac aging.
Recent preliminary studies have shown that the mitochondrial targeting tetrapeptide SS-31 (elamipretide) improves the cardiac diastolic function and myocardial performance in 24 month old mice during a treatment period of eight weeks. Dr. Zhang will examine the changes in mitochondrial energetics that accompany this treatment, including studies of “mitochondrial flashes”, a manifestation of a brief reactive oxygen species (ROS) production combined with pH change that signals transient mitochondrial permeability. This work will help elucidate the mechanisms of cardiac dysfunction with aging and how the SS-31 intervention improves cardiac function.
