TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantifying the Effects of Aging on Morphological and Cellular Properties of Human Female Pelvic Floor Muscles
AU - Rieger, Mary
AU - Duran, Pamela
AU - Cook, Mark
AU - Schenk, Simon
AU - Shah, Manali
AU - Jacobs, Marni
AU - Christman, Karen
AU - Kado, Deborah M.
AU - Alperin, Marianna
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Biomedical Engineering Society.
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Age-related pelvic floor muscle (PFM) dysfunction is a critical defect in the progression to pelvic floor disorders (PFDs). Despite dramatic prevalence of PFDs in older women, the underlying pathophysiology of age-related PFM dysfunction remains poorly understood. Using cadaveric specimens, we quantified aging effects on functionally relevant PFM properties and compared PFMs with the appendicular muscles from the same donors. PFMs, obturator internus, and vastus lateralis were procured from younger (N = 4) and older (N = 11) donors with known obstetrical and medical history. Our findings demonstrate that PFMs undergo degenerative, rather than atrophic, alterations. Importantly, age-related fibrotic degeneration disproportionally impacts PFMs compared to the appendicular muscles. We identified intramuscular lipid accumulation as another contributing factor to the pathological alterations of PFMs with aging. We observed a fourfold decrease in muscle stem cell (MuSC) pool of aged relative to younger PFMs, but the MuSC pool of appendicular muscles from the same older donors was only twofold lower than in younger group, although these differences were not statistically significant. Age-related degeneration appears to disproportionally impact PFMs relative to the appendicular muscles from the same donors. Knowledge of tissue- and cell-level changes in aged PFMs is essential to promote our understanding of the mechanisms governing PFM dysfunction in older women.
AB - Age-related pelvic floor muscle (PFM) dysfunction is a critical defect in the progression to pelvic floor disorders (PFDs). Despite dramatic prevalence of PFDs in older women, the underlying pathophysiology of age-related PFM dysfunction remains poorly understood. Using cadaveric specimens, we quantified aging effects on functionally relevant PFM properties and compared PFMs with the appendicular muscles from the same donors. PFMs, obturator internus, and vastus lateralis were procured from younger (N = 4) and older (N = 11) donors with known obstetrical and medical history. Our findings demonstrate that PFMs undergo degenerative, rather than atrophic, alterations. Importantly, age-related fibrotic degeneration disproportionally impacts PFMs compared to the appendicular muscles. We identified intramuscular lipid accumulation as another contributing factor to the pathological alterations of PFMs with aging. We observed a fourfold decrease in muscle stem cell (MuSC) pool of aged relative to younger PFMs, but the MuSC pool of appendicular muscles from the same older donors was only twofold lower than in younger group, although these differences were not statistically significant. Age-related degeneration appears to disproportionally impact PFMs relative to the appendicular muscles from the same donors. Knowledge of tissue- and cell-level changes in aged PFMs is essential to promote our understanding of the mechanisms governing PFM dysfunction in older women.
KW - Aging
KW - Female
KW - Pelvic floor disorders
KW - Pelvic floor muscles
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U2 - 10.1007/s10439-021-02748-5
DO - 10.1007/s10439-021-02748-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 33683527
AN - SCOPUS:85112255241
SN - 0090-6964
VL - 49
SP - 1836
EP - 1847
JO - Annals of Biomedical Engineering
JF - Annals of Biomedical Engineering
IS - 8
ER -