Chronic exercise training prevents coronary artery stiffening in aortic-banded miniswine: role of perivascular adipose-derived advanced glycation end products

Heart failure (HF) is associated with increased large conduit artery stiffness and afterload resulting in stiffening of the coronary arteries. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) and advanced glycation end products (AGE) both promote arterial stiffness, yet the mechanisms by which coronary PVAT promotes arterial stiffness and the efficacy of exercise to prevent coronary stiffness are unknown. We hypothesized that both chronic continuous and interval exercise training would prevent coronary PVAT-mediated AGE secretion and arterial stiffness. Yucatan miniature swine were divided into four groups: control-sedentary (CON), aortic banded sedentary-heart failure (HF), aortic banded HF-continuous exercise trained (HF+CONT), and aortic banded HF-interval exercise trained (HF+IT). The left circumflex and right coronary arteries underwent ex vivo mechanical testing, and arterial AGE, elastin, and collagen were assessed. Coronary elastin elastic modulus (EEM) and elastin protein were lower and AGE was increased with HF compared with CON, which was prevented by both HF+CONT and HF+IT. Mouse aortic segments treated with swine coronary PVAT conditioned medium had lower EEM and elastin content and greater AGE secretion and arterial AGE accumulation in HF compared with CON, which was prevented by both HF+CONT and HF+IT. Aminoguanidine (AMG), an AGE inhibitor, prevented the reduction in EEM, arterial elastin content, and AGE accumulation in mouse aortic segments treated with PVAT conditioned medium in the HF group. Our data demonstrate efficacy for chronic continuous and interval exercise to prevent coronary artery stiffness via inhibition of PVAT-derived AGE secretion in a preclinical miniswine model of pressure overload-induced HF. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Our findings show that chronic continuous and interval exercise training regimens prevent coronary artery stiffness associated with inhibition of perivascular adipose tissue-derived advanced glycation end products in a translational pressure overload-induced heart failure model potentially providing an effective therapeutic option for heart failure patients.