Sirtuin-3 (SIRT3), a class III histone deacetylase plays a key role in regulating metabolism, oxidative stress and survival. This study investigated the cardiac level of SIRT3 in male and female rats during aging.
Wistar rats were divided into four experimental groups including old males, young males, old females and young females. Blood pressure was recorded through right carotid artery cannulation. Gene expression was measured using Real-time (RT-PCR technique and protein levels were evaluated using the ELISA test.
Our findings indicate that, both sexes experienced a similar increase in systolic pressure during aging without any significant difference. The heart weight-to-body weight ratio (HW/BW) of old male rats was significantly lower than that of young males (P<0.01) and old female rats (P<0.05). The cardiac level of SIRT3 did not show any significant changes during aging in either male or female rats. However, the hearts of young and old female rats exhibited higher expression of SIRT3 at both mRNA and protein levels.
The sex difference in age-related cardiovascular diseases is, at least in part, attributed to differences in the expression of regulatory proteins such as SIRT3.