Cardioscience最新文献

Following a myocardial infarction the patient with a dilated heart is at greater risk for arrhythmias, congestive failure and sudden death. Studies of myocardial infarction in experimental animals have shown that, with infarcts involving up to 20% of the left ventricle, hypertrophy of surviving myocytes occurs and there are minimal hemodynamic changes. Infarctions greater than 20% induce little additional hypertrophy, and develop increased left ventricular filling pressures and cardiac dilatation. It has been suggested that inadequate hypertrophy of residual myocardium may be a reason for the progressive left ventricular dilatation which occurs after large myocardial infarcts. There are data in humans and animals suggesting that the mass of the left ventricle following a myocardial infarction correlates with improvement in systolic function. Studies from our laboratories have previously shown that 2-tetradecylglycidic acid, an inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyl transferase I, inhibits mitochondrial long-chain fatty acid oxidation and causes myocardial hypertrophy when given to rats by mouth for 7-28 days. We carried out studies to see whether induction of additional myocardial hypertrophy by means of feeding tetradecylglycidic acid might prevent pathologic dilation following a large (50%) infarct in rats. Treatment of control and infarcted rats with tetradecylglycidic acid for 10 days resulted in myocardial hypertrophy in both groups. The rats with myocardial infarction treated with tetradecylglycidic acid had an increase in peak developed left ventricular pressure during abrupt aortic occlusion and lower left ventricular end-diastolic volumes, when compared to untreated rats with myocardial infarction, while the stroke volume was maintained. Thus induction of myocardial hypertrophy with an inhibitor of long-chain fatty acid oxidation retarded the process of left ventricular dilatation and had beneficial effects on systolic function following a large myocardial infarction.

The aim of the experiments was to compare the effects of endothelin and alpha-adrenoceptor stimulation on the contraction and inositol phosphate turnover of cardiomyocytes enzymatically isolated from rat and guinea-pig hearts. The effects of agonists on the contraction amplitude of warmed (32 degrees C), electrically stimulated (0.5 Hz) myocytes was recorded using a video-edge detection system. Phosphoinositide hydrolysis was measured in suspensions of myocytes prelabelled with myo-[2(-3)H]-inositol. A doubling of contraction amplitude was observed in rat ventricular myocytes in response to maximally effective concentrations of either endothelin-1 (10 nM) or phenylephrine (1 mM). In rat myocytes, prazosin prevented the effect of phenylephrine but not the effect of endothelin-1. Reversal of the maximal inotropic effect of endothelin was slow (halftime for reversal 11.5 +/- 4.5 min) compared with phenylephrine (3.4 +/- 1.1 min). Endothelin (10 nM) added at the peak effect of phenylephrine produced no further increase in contraction amplitude. The half-time for the reversal of the effect of phenylephrine plus endothelin in these experiments was not significantly different from that with endothelin alone (12.8 +/- 4.0 min). This indicates that phenylephrine did not interact with endothelin binding. Phosphoinositide hydrolysis was increased in rat myocytes by either endothelin or phenylephrine. In guinea-pig myocytes, endothelin-1 stimulated phosphoinositide hydrolysis but did not induce an inotropic response, whereas phenylephrine gave neither an increase in phosphoinositide hydrolysis nor an inotropic effect. We conclude that the observations in rat myocytes are consistent with different receptors for endothelin-1 and phenylephrine, but a common final pathway through the inositol phosphate system for the inotropic effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Carotid bodies from 17 human fetuses of gestational age ranging from 10 weeks to full term were examined in histological sections stained by the Bodian silver protargol method to demonstrate nerve axons. At 10 weeks gestation the carotid body was contacted by a single nerve bundle at its apical pole but by the 13th week a second bundle had also reached the proximal pole. Thin, pale nerve axons extended from these bundles and surrounded the carotid body to form a plexus from which several small groups of axons entered its superficial regions. With increase of gestational age beyond this point there was a progressive influx of axons to penetrate the innermost areas of glomic tissue by the 19th week. Nerve endings were not identified until 23 weeks gestation when occasional small boutons, and rarely calyces, were seen to terminate on fetal chief cells. Thus there was by this age a well-developed nerve link between glomus and brain consistent with the view that from this stage of development the carotid bodies are able to function as chemoreceptors. However, results of previous research work in our Department and in the literature lead us to believe that the fully anatomically developed nerve network of the carotid body depends on its cellular and biochemical environment to ensure that it functions efficiently as a chemoreceptor. Thus, reduction of dopamine-turnover or attenuation of chief cells in the carotid bodies is associated with increased chemosensitivity, as in the days following birth and in systemic hypertension in later life.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Various scavengers of oxygen free radicals or inhibitors of their production were used to measure the relative amounts of oxygen free radicals generated in phagocytic cells. The agents used were iodoacetate, superoxide dismutase, sodium benzoate, catalase and mannitol. The studies were made in patients with a recurrence of rheumatic activity, chronic rheumatic heart disease or pharyngitis, and in normal controls. Monocytes and neutrophils of the subjects were stimulated with latex in the presence or absence of a scavenger/inhibitor and the per cent inhibition of the chemiluminescence response was calculated. There were 10 patients in each group. Follow-up studies were done at 15 days, 3 months and 6 months. In the patients with a recurrence of rheumatic activity, the level of oxygen free radicals generated in the initial study was so high that the scavenger/inhibitors were able to reduce the chemiluminescence only in part. The diminution in chemiluminescence increased during the follow-up period. In the patients with chronic rheumatic heart disease, the per cent inhibition of the chemiluminescence response was significantly higher in the initial study than that observed in patients with a recurrence of rheumatic activity, and it remained constant during the follow-up period. The scavenger/inhibitors were almost completely able to inhibit the generation of oxygen free radicals in patients with pharyngitis and in normal controls.

In isolated rat hearts the calcium paradox, induced by perfusion for 3 minutes in the absence of calcium followed by perfusion for 10 minutes in the presence of calcium, depressed the activation of adenylyl cyclase by l-isoproterenol, NaF and forskolin. The characteristics of the beta-adrenoceptors and the activation of adenylyl cyclase by guanylyl imidodiphosphate were not changed. The findings suggest an uncoupling of beta-adrenoceptors from the catalytic site of the adenylate cyclase complex. Diltiazem, at 0.4 microM in the perfusion medium, greatly reduced the diminution of the activation of adenylate cyclase by isoproterenol and forskolin, and completely prevented the depression of the activation of adenylate cyclase by NaF. These effects may be due to interference by diltiazem with the mechanisms that promote an excessive influx of calcium into the heart during the calcium paradox.

The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of heat shock proteins and catalase after heat shock stress in the recovery of cardiac mechanical and endothelial function following a prolonged ischemic, cardioplegic arrest. Isolated working rat hearts were subjected to an ischemic cardioplegic arrest for 4 hours at 4 degrees C. Six groups, each of 6 hearts, were studied: control; control treated with 3-aminotriazole, an inhibitor of catalase; sham; sham + 3-aminotriazole; heat-shocked rats; heat shocked rats + 3-aminotriazole. Postischemic recovery of cardiac output and endothelial function (as % of preischemic control values) were respectively 54.6 +/- 1.9 and 21.2 +/- 3.0 in the control group; 52.3 +/- 2.9 and 19.1 +/- 3.9 in the control + 3-aminotriazole group; 72.2 +/- 2.7 and 54.2 +/- 7.6 in the heat shocked group; and 68.0 +/- 4.0 and 21.0 +/- 5.8 in the heat shocked + 3-aminotriazole group. SDS PAGE and western blotting showed induction of heat shock proteins in the heat stressed animals. Measurement of catalase activity showed significant inhibition in the 3-aminotriazole treated groups. It is concluded that, following heat shock stress, the enhanced endothelial recovery after prolonged ischemic cardioplegic arrest is dependent on catalase activity but that this does not apply to the recovery of mechanical functional.

The aim is to summarize briefly the evidence for the existence and possible functions of receptor-mediated activity of phospholipases C and D in the myocardium. Muscarinic, alpha 1-adrenergic, angiotensin II, endothelin-1, thrombin, adenine nucleotide and opioid peptide receptors are all linked through GTP-binding proteins to phospholipase C which hydrolyses phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) in the myocardium. Events that are not linked to receptors, such as mechanical loading (stretching) of cardiomyocytes, can also activate phospholipase C. The high capacity for resynthesis of PIP2 maintains the pool of PIP2, even during maximal activation of phospholipase C. Activation of phospholipase C by endothelin-1, alpha 1-adrenoceptor and angiotensin II, is subject to different rates of homologous desensitization. Protein kinase C is probably not involved in the desensitization of the response to endothelin-1. One of the products of the hydrolysis of PIP2, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), releases Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. This intracellular response seems to be causally related to positive inotropy. The phosphorylated product of IP3, inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate (IP4), is believed to play a role in the handling of intracellular Ca2+, as well as in the inotropic response; however, its formation is controversial. At present the oscillations in the level of intracellular Ca2+ underlying, for example, the positive inotropy induced by alpha 1-adrenoceptors or endothelin are not clearly identified. The other product of phospholipase C, 1,2-diacylglycerol, activates Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinase C and potentially controls a wide array of cellular functions such as ion transport, myofibrillar Ca2+ sensitivity, "cross-talk" between phospholipases C and D, gene expression, protein synthesis and hypertrophic cell growth. Alterations in the fatty acid composition, particularly the polyunsaturated fatty acids, modify the phosphoinositide response induced by hormones. Cultured cardiomyocytes, incubated in sera containing the fatty acids 18:2n-6 or 20:5n-3, but not 18:0 and 18:1n-9, show a decrease in the phospholipase C responses mediated by alpha 1-adrenoceptors. The fatty acid composition of myocardial phosphatidyl inositol 4-monophosphate (PIP) and PIP2 differs from that of phosphatidylinositol, which indicates that phosphatidylinositol kinases have a certain substrate specificity or have access to localized phosphatidylinositol molecules. The estimation of the level of stimulated 1,2-diacylglycerol is complicated by the contribution of the activity of receptor-mediated phospholipase D. The identification of the molecular species of 1,2-diacylglycerol is crucial in establishing the roles and the sources of 1,2-diacylglycerol. The fatty acids covalently bound in the membrane phospholipids may also influence phospholipases C and D.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Ischemic preconditioning with brief periods of ischemia followed by reperfusion protects the myocardium against a subsequent prolonged ischemic insult. Reperfusion may influence the protection given by ischemic preconditioning by washing out metabolites that are accumulated during the preconditioning ischemia. This study was designed to define the duration of reperfusion necessary to provide such protection. Hearts of anesthetized rats were preconditioned by occlusion of the left coronary artery for 5 minutes. This was followed by reperfusion for either 1 minute (n = 6) or 30 seconds (n = 6). The hearts were then subjected to a sustained occlusion of the left coronary artery for 45 minutes followed by reperfusion for 3 hours. Control (n = 11) hearts were subjected only to occlusion of the left coronary artery for 45 minutes followed by reperfusion for 3 hours. Infarct size was measured using tetrazolium and expressed as a percentage of the region at risk. After reperfusion for 1 minute there was a significant reduction in the size of the infarct (32.3 +/- 4.1%), expressed as a percentage of the zone at risk, when compared to controls (61.9 +/- 3.5%) (p < 0.01). However, the protection received by preconditioning was lost when reperfusion was limited to 30 seconds (infarct size 63.4 +/- 3.2%). The results show that the minimum period of reperfusion required to give protection after preconditioning ischemia lies between 30 seconds and 1 minute.

Isolated, perfused hearts from guinea pigs were subjected to hypoxia for 30 minutes followed by reoxygenation for 30 minutes. Cellular damage was assessed by measuring the release of the cytoplasmic enzyme lactate dehydrogenase and the mitochondrial markers cytochrome c and cytochrome oxidase. The release of the enzymes was correlated with electron microscopy. Hypoxia induced an increase in the release of lactate dehydrogenase and cytochrome c. During reoxygenation, the release of lactate dehydrogenase was exacerbated while that of cytochrome c decreased, suggesting a partial recovery of the mitochondria. Cytochrome oxidase was not detectable in the extracellular space during hypoxia or reoxygenation. It is suggested that cytochrome c is a specific marker for damage to mitochondria caused by hypoxia and its loss may affect respiratory chain function.

The term "hibernating" myocardium has been introduced to indicate the presence of regional asynergy due to persistent hypoperfusion, which can be reversed after revascularization. The mechanisms underlying the prolonged functional adaptation of myocardial cells to hypoperfusion are still not clear, although preliminary experimental data indicate that a reduced availability of intracellular Ca++ may play an important role. The identification of hibernating myocardium may have therapeutic implications, since it has been demonstrated that the revascularization of hibernating myocardial territories may lead to regional and global improvement of systolic left ventricular function. The noninvasive identification of hibernating myocardium can be accomplished by positron emission tomography, which demonstrates the presence of preserved metabolic activity in hibernating myocardial territories. However, exercise 201thallium scintigraphy, using the reinjection technique, with a quantitative regional analysis of 201thallium uptake, has also been reported to provide information comparable to that obtained by positron emission tomography. "Stunning" of the myocardium indicates a condition of transient impaired regional systolic function, following an episode of ischemia. The mechanisms determining the slow recovery of function after ischemia are still not completely understood. Experimental data suggest in this case a reduced Ca++ affinity of the myofibrils and a reduced maximal calcium-activated force.