Scientists have proposed a new way to slow heart ageing without drugs

The secret of a healthier and "younger" heart may lie in the vagus nerve.

This is the conclusion reached by an international group of scientists coordinated by the Sant'Anna High School in Pisa. The results of the study are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine and indicate: the preservation of the nerve connection between the heart and the brain slows down the processes of cardiac aging.

The right cardiac vagus nerve plays a key role, the researchers found. It helps keep cardiomyocytes - heart muscle cells - healthy and protects the heart from age-related changes regardless of heart rate.

Why the vagus nerve is so important to the heart

According to the study leader, Professor Vincenzo Lionetti, the loss of the heart's connection to the vagus nerve leads to accelerated "wear and tear" of heart tissue.

Even partial restoration of this connection, especially on the right vagus nerve side, is able to restrain pathological rearrangement of the heart and preserve its contractile function. This discovery changes the understanding of how age-related deterioration of cardiac function develops.

Biomedicine and neuroengineering have come together

The study was interdisciplinary and brought together experimental medicine and bioengineering. It involved intensive and translational medicine laboratories, as well as the Institute of Biorobotics, where an innovative nerve repair technology was developed.

Scientists have created a biodegradable nerve guide that can be implanted to stimulate and direct the natural regeneration of the vagus nerve at the level of the heart. This technology has already shown efficacy in an experimental model.

New perspectives for cardiac surgery and transplantation

The study authors believe their findings could change approaches to cardiothoracic and transplant surgery. Restoring cardiac vagal innervation during surgery could be a new strategy for long-term cardiac protection.

This will shift the focus of medicine from treating late complications of premature cardiac ageing to preventing them, which is particularly important for patients after complex surgical procedures.

International co-operation

Leading research centres in Italy and other countries, including the Universities of Pisa and Udine, the CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, EPFL in Lausanne, the Leibniz Institute for Ageing in Jena and the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, participated in the work.

The study emphasises that heart health is directly linked to the health of the nervous system, and maintaining this connection could be key to slowing cardiac ageing.