Evidence for age-dependent air-space enlargement contributing to loss of lung tissue elastic recoil pressure and increased shear modulus in older age.

As a normal part of mature aging, lung tissue undergoes microstructural changes such as alveolar air-space enlargement and redistribution of collagen and elastin away from the alveolar duct. The older lung also experiences an associated decrease in elastic recoil pressure and an increase in specific tissue elastic moduli, but how this relates mechanistically to microstructural remodeling is not well-understood. In this study, we use a structure-based mechanics analysis to elucidate the contributions of age-related air-space enlargement and redistribution of elastin and collagen to loss of lung elastic recoil pressure and increase in tissue elastic moduli. Our results show that age-related geometric changes can result in reduction of elastic recoil pressure and increase in shear and bulk moduli, which is consistent with published experimental data. All elastic moduli were sensitive to the distribution of stiffness (representing elastic fiber density) in the alveolar wall, with homogenous stiffness near the duct and through the septae resulting in a more compliant tissue. The preferential distribution of elastic proteins around the alveolar duct in the healthy young adult lung therefore provides for a more elastic tissue.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We use a structure-based mechanics analysis to correlate air-space enlargement and redistribution of elastin and collagen to age-related changes in the mechanical behavior of lung parenchyma. Our study highlights that both the cause (redistribution of elastin and collagen) and the structural effect (alveolar air-space enlargement) contribute to decline in lung tissue elastic recoil with age; these results are consistent with published data and provide a new avenue for understanding the mechanics of the older lung.