The influence of age and exercise training status on left ventricular systolic twist mechanics in healthy males—an exploratory study

Age-related differences in twist may be mitigated with exercise training, although this remains inconclusive. Moreover, temporal left ventricular (LV) systolic twist mechanics, including early-systolic (twist_early), and beyond peak twist (twist_peak) alone, have not been considered. Therefore, further insights are required to ascertain the influence of age and training status on twist mechanics across systole. Forty males were included and allocated into 1 of 4 groups based on age and training status: young recreationally active (Y_RA, n = 9; 28 ± 5 years), old recreationally active (O_RA, n = 10; 68 ± 6 years), young trained (Y_T, n = 10; 27 ± 6 years), and old trained (O_T, n = 11, 64 ± 4 years) groups. Two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography was performed to determine LV twist mechanics, including twist_early, twist_peak, and total twist (twist_total), by considering the nadir on the twist time-curve during early systole. Twist_total was calculated by subtracting twist_early from their peak values. LV twist_peak was higher in older than younger men (p = 0.036), while twist_peak was lower in the trained than recreationally-active (p = 0.004). Twist_peak is underestimated compared with twist_total (p < 0.001), and when early-systolic mechanics were considered, to calculate twist_total, the age effect (p = 0.186) was dampened. LV twist was higher in older than younger age, with lower twist in exercise-trained than recreationally-active males. Twist_peak is underestimated when twist_early is not considered, with novel observations demonstrating that the age effect was dampened when considering twist_early. These findings elucidated a smaller age effect when early phases of systole are considered, while lower LV systolic mechanics were observed in older aged trained than recreationally-active males.