Abstract
To elucidate whether the extent of element accumulation in the arteries and cardiac valves with aging was different between different races, the authors investigated the accumulation of elements in the arteries and cardiac valves of the Thai with aging and the relationships among elements in the cardiac valves. After ordinary dissection at Chiang Mai University was finished, 16 arteries and 4 cardiac valves were resected and element contents were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry.
In the 16 arteries, the average content of calcium was the highest in the site of the abdominal aorta ramifying into the common iliac arteries, and it decreased in the order internal iliac, coronary, abdominal aorta, common iliac, external iliac, superior mesenteric, inferior mesenteric, thoracic aorta, brachial, radial, common carotid, subclavian, ulnar, axillary, renal, and internal thoracic arteries. The average contents of phosphorus and magnesium in respective arteries were parallel with the average contents of calcium, except for the coronary artery. In comparison with the arteries of the Japanese, the trend of calcium accumulation in the arteries of the Thai was almost similar to that in the arteries of the Japanese, except for the coronary artery and thoracic aorta. The calcium accumulation in the coronary artery was much higher in the Thai than in the Japanese, whereas that in the thoracic aorta was lower in the Thai than in the Japanese.
Regarding elements in the cardiac valves, the calcium content increased remarkably in the seventies in the aortic valve and in the nineties in the pulmonary valve, but it hardly increased in both the mitral and tricuspid valves with aging. The average content of calcium was the highest in the aortic valve, and it decreased in the order pulmonary, tricuspid, and mitral valves. Regarding the relationship among elements in the aortic valves, it was found that there were extremely significant direct correlations among the contents of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium, whereas there were significant direct correlations between zinc and either calcium or phosphorus contents. Although significant correlations were found between sulfur and the other element contents in the aortic valves of the Japanese, no significant correlations were found between them in the aortic valves of the Thai. In the mitral valves, extremely or very significant direct correlations were found among the contents of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sulfur, with some exceptions that there were no significant correlations between phosphorus and either magnesium or sulfur contents.
In addition, no significant correlation was found in the calcium content between the aortic valve and coronary artery in the same individuals.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, T. Minami, et al., Age-related changes of mineral contents in the human thoracic aorta and in the cerebral artery, Biol. Trace Element Res. 54, 23–31 (1996).
T. Araki and Y. Tohno, Age dependency of nanosecond fluorescence characteristics in human arteries, Front. Med. Biol. Eng. 7, 265–273 (1996).
S. Tohno, Y. Tohno, T. Minami, et al., High accumulation of elements in the human femoral artery, Biol. Trace Element Res. 57, 27–37 (1997).
S. Tohno, Y. Tohno, T. Minami, et al., Differential accumulation of calcium and phosphorus in aged human arteries, Acta Anat. Nippon. 72, 451–454 (1997).
S. Tohno, Y. Tohno, T. Minami, et al., High accumulation of minerals in the human arteries of lower limb, Biol. Trace Element Res. 63, 177–183 (1998).
Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, T. Minami, et al., Age-related changes of mineral contents in the human aorta and internal thoracic artery, Biol. Trace Element Res. 61, 219–226 (1998).
S. Tohno and Y. Tohno, Age-related differences in calcium accumulation in human arteries, Cell. Mol. Biol. 44, 1253–1263 (1998).
S. Tohno, M. Masuda, Y. Tohno, et al., High accumulation of calcium and phosphorus in human iliac arteries, Biol. Trace Element Res. 70, 41–49 (1999).
Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, Y. Tateyama, et al., Visual demonstration of calcium accumulation in human arteries of upper and lower limbs, Biol. Trace Element Res. 81, 115–125 (2001).
S. Tohno, Y. Tohno, T. Minami, et al., Calcium and phosphorus in aged human cerebral arteries, Biol. Trace Element Res. 81, 105–113 (2001).
Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, Y. Moriwake, et al., Accumulation of calcium and phosphorus accompanied by increase of magnesium and decrease of sulfur in human arteries, Biol. Trace Element Res. 82, 9–19 (2001).
Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, Y. Moriwake, et al., Simultaneous accumulation of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium in various human arteries, Biol. Trace Element Res. 82, 21–28 (2001).
Y. Moriwake, Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, et al., Relationships among element contents in the intimal, middle, and external tunicae of the thoracic aorta, Biol. Trace Element Res. 83, 121–132 (2001).
Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, and T. Minami, Age-related changes of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium contents in human arteries and the correlations among their contents, Sogo Rinsho 50, 3222–3234 (2001) (in Japanese).
S. Tohno, Y. Tohno, M. Hayashi, et al., Accumulation of calcium in the arteries of Japanese monkey, Biol. Trace Element Res. 82, 77–86 (2001).
S. Tohno, Y. Tohno, M. Hayashi, et al., Accumulation of magnesium as well as calcium and phosphorus in Japanese monkey arteries with aging, Biol. Trace Element Res. 84, 81–92 (2001).
S. Y. Yu and H. T. Blumenthal, The calcification of elastic fibers. I. Biochemical studies, J. Gerontol. 18, 119–126 (1963).
R. J. Elliott and L. T. McGrath, Calcification of the human thoracic aorta during aging, Calcif. Tissue Int. 54, 268–273 (1994).
E. L. Kanabrocki, G. Fels, and E. Kaplan, Calcium, cholesterol, and collagen levels in human aortas, J. Gerontol. 15, 383–387 (1960).
S. Tohno, Y. Moriwake, Y. Tohno, et al., Age-related changes of element contents in human mitral and tricuspid valves, Biol. Trace Element Res. 70, 137–147 (1999).
Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, T. Minami, et al., Differences in accumulation of elements in human cardiac valves, Biol. Trace Element Res. 77, 107–118 (2000).
S. Tohno, Y. Tohno, Y. Moriwake, et al., Compositional changes of the aortic valve similar to the artery with aging, Biol. Trace Element Res. 87, 83–93 (2002).
Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, H. Satoh, et al., Compositional changes of human mitral valves with aging, Biol. Trace Element Res. 88, 203–213 (2002).
Y. Tohno, S. Tohno, P. Mahakkanukrauh, et al., Simultaneous accumulation of magnesium with calcium and phosphorus in aorta and iliac arteries of Thai, Biol. Trace Element Res. 84, 19–35 (2001).
M. D. Grynpas, K. P. H. Pritzker, and R. G. V. Hancock, Neutron activation analysis of bulk and selected trace elements in bones using a low flux slowpoke reactor, Biol. Trace Element Res. 13, 333–344 (1987).
H. T. Blumenthal, A. I. Lansing, and S. H. Gray, The interrelation of elastic tissue and calcium in the genesis of arteriosclerosis, Am. J. Pathol. 26, 989–1009 (1950).
S. Tohno, P. Mahakkanukrauh, Y. Tohno, et al., High accumulation of calcium and phosphorus in the coronary artery of the Thai in comparison with the Japanese, Biol. Trace Element Res. 87, 69–82 (2002).
A. E. Hirst, P. Piyaratn, and I. Gore, A comparison of atherosclerosis of the aorta and coronary arteries in Bangkok and Los Angeles, Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 38, 162–585 (1962).
I. Gore and C. Tejada, The quantitative appraisal of atherosclerosis, Am. J. Pathol. 33, 875–885 (1957).
N. Matsuda-Inoguchi, S. Shimbo, Z.-W. Zhang, et al., Nutrient intake of working women in Bangkok, Thailand, as studied by total food duplicate method, Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 54, 187–194 (2000).
Y. Yoshimoto, S. Muto, S. Matsuura, et al., A fundamental study concerning cardiovascular disease for middle-aged population residents of Chiang Mai Province in Thailand (1st report), J. Kagawa Nutr. Univ. 25, 61–80 (1994).
M. A. Simon and S. F. Liu, Calcification of the mitral valve annulus and its relation to functional valvular disturbance, Am. Heart J. 48, 497–505 (1954).
A. Pomerance, Pathological and clinical study of calcification of the mitral ring, J. Clin. Pathol. 23, 354–361 (1970).
J. D. Cooksey, B. M. Parker, and C. S. Weldon, Atrial septal defect and calcification of the tricuspid valve, Br. Heart J. 32, 409–411 (1970).
C. Nystrom-Rosander, U. Lindh, S. Thelin, et al., Trace element changes in sclerotic heart valves from patients undergoing aortic valve surgery, Biol. Trace Element Res. 88, 9–24 (2002).
J. E. Edwards, On the etiology of calcific aortic stenosis, Circulation 26, 17–18 (1962).
S. Sarig, T. A. Weiss, I. Katz, et al., Detection of cholesterol associated with calcium mineral using confocal fluorescence microscopy, Lab. Invest. 71, 782–787 (1994).
E. R. Mohler, M. K. Chawla, A. W. Chang, et al., Identification and characterization of calcifying valve cells from human and canine aortic valves, J. Heart Valve Dis. 8, 254–260 (1999).
E. R. Mohler, Are atherosclerotic processes involved in aortic-valve calcification? Lancet 356, 524–525 (2000).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ohnishi, Y., Tohno, S., Mahakkanukrauh, P. et al. Accumulation of elements in the arteries and cardiac valves of Thai with aging. Biol Trace Elem Res 96, 71–92 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:96:1-3:71
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:96:1-3:71