Biomedical subjects

P Anversa

Publications and source records attributed to P Anversa.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

PubMed1991

Cellular basis of ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction.

To determine whether acute left ventricular failure associated with myocardial infarction leads to architectural changes in the spared nonischemic portion of the ventricular wall, large infarcts were produced in rats, and the animals were sacrificed 2 days after surgery. Left ventricular end-diastolic pressure was increased, whereas left ventricular dP/dt and systolic pressure were decreased, indicating the presence of severe ventricular dysfunction. Absolute infarct size, determined by measuring the fraction of myocyte nuclei lost from the left ventricular free wall, averaged 63%. Transverse midchamber diameter increased by 20%, and wall thickness diminished by 33%. The number of mural myocytes in this spared region of the left ventricular free wall decreased by 36% and the capillary profiles by 40%. Thus, side-to-side slippage of myocytes in the myocardium occurs acutely in association with ventricular dilation after a large myocardial infarction. In order to analyze the chronic consequences of myocardial infarction on ventricular remodeling, a second group of experiments was performed in which the left coronary artery was ligated and the functional and structural properties of the heart were examined 1 month later. In infarcts affecting an average 38% of the free wall of the left ventricle (small infarcts), reactive hypertrophy in the spared myocardium resulted in a complete reconstitution of functioning tissue. However, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure was increased, left ventricular dP/dt was decreased, and diastolic wall stress was increased 2.4-fold. After infarctions resulting in a 60% loss of mass (large infarcts), a 10% deficit was present in the recovery of viable myocardium. Functionally, ventricular performance was markedly depressed, and diastolic wall stress was increased 9-fold. The alterations in loading of the spared myocardium were due to an increase in chamber volume and a decrease in the myocardial mass/chamber volume ratio that affected both infarct groups. Thus, decompensated eccentric ventricular hypertrophy develops chronically after infarction and growth processes in myocytes are inadequate for normalization of wall stress when myocyte loss involves nearly 40% or more of the cells of the left ventricular free wall. The persistence of elevated myocardial and cellular loads may sustain the progression of the disease state toward end-stage congestive heart failure.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Nonischemic myocardial damage induced by nonocclusive constriction of coronary artery in rats.

To determine whether reduction in coronary vessel diameter leads to alterations in cardiac function, coronary perfusion, and tissue integrity, the left coronary artery of rats was narrowed and ventricular hemodynamics measured at 3 and 5 days after surgery. Coronary artery narrowing averaged 62% and end-diastolic pressure was increased, whereas peak systolic pressure, positive change in pressure over time, stroke volume, and total peripheral resistance were decreased. However, this impairment of function was accompanied by a preservation of resting coronary blood flow (CBF), although a 43% decrease in maximal CBF was detected. Foci of reparative fibrosis and myocytolytic necrosis were found primarily in the endomyocardium and midmyocardium. These lesions were temporally distinct, corresponding to 5 days and 12- to 24-h-old forms of myocardial damage, respectively. The changes in maximal CBF correlated with the degree of stenosis, whereas the volume fraction, average cross-sectional area, and number of foci of reparative fibrosis lesions per unit area of myocardium correlated exclusively with end-diastolic pressure. In conclusion, reductions in luminal diameter of a major coronary artery not affecting resting coronary perfusion have a profound detrimental impact on cardiac performance and initiate immediate myocyte cell loss that is ongoing. Thus tissue and cellular damage may not be ischemic in nature but rather mediated by other mechanisms such as unbearable mechanical stress.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Loss of intermediate-sized coronary arteries and capillary proliferation after left ventricular failure in rats.

To determine the adaptation of coronary vasculature and microvasculature to cardiac failure, renal hypertension was produced in rats, and the animals were killed 8 mo later when severe impairment in left ventricular function was present. By use of a new morphometric approach, it could be demonstrated that length densities of arteries from 6 to 20 microns in luminal diameter decreased by 23 and 26% in the midmyocardium and endomyocardium, respectively, whereas arteries ranging from 21 to 40 microns were reduced by 59, 55, and 46% in the outer, middle, and inner layers, respectively, of the left ventricular wall. In contrast, capillary density increased by 29 and 38% in the epimyocardium and endomyocardium, respectively. Capillary proliferation resulted in a 15% decrease in average diffusion distance for oxygen to the myocyte compartment of the tissue. Despite these opposite effects that may tend to compensate each other, the volume percent of collagen in the wall augmented by 106%. In conclusion, differences exist in the response of the coronary vascular tree to long-term renal hypertension that may impair coronary resistance and flow without affecting the capillary network and the oxygenation potential of muscle cells.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1991

Left ventricular dysfunction induced by chronic alcohol ingestion in rats.

To determine whether moderate ingestion of alcohol for protracted periods of time affects normal cardiac performance and produces myocyte damage, male Fischer 344 rats at 4 mo of age were given 30% ethanol in their drinking water every day for a period of 8 mo. Experimental animals and age-matched controls were examined hemodynamically and morphometrically at 12 mo of age. Body and cardiac growth were depressed in alcoholic animals by 15 and 12%, respectively. Although left ventricular (LV) weight was reduced by 14% in alcoholic rats, no difference in right ventricular (RV) weight was noted, and consequently the ratio of RV weight to body weight increased by 12%. Systemic arterial pressures as well as LV peak systolic pressure decreased in alcoholic rats despite an unchanged heart rate. Myocardial contractility in alcoholic rats was further depressed as revealed by a significant decrease in the peak rate of ventricular pressure decay. Importantly, end-diastolic pressure was elevated 5.2-fold in the left ventricle and 2.9-fold in the right ventricle after 8 mo of ethanol consumption. LV diastolic chamber volume increased through myocardial remodeling as the longitudinal axis and transverse diameters from the base to the apex increased in experimental animals while the thickness of the LV diminished. Structural and hemodynamic alterations resulted in a 571% increase in the volume of diastolic circumferential wall stress on the left ventricle. Damage to the myocardium was increased in alcoholic animals with the volume percent of myocardial lesions increasing 342% in the wall of the left ventricle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1991

Coronary artery narrowing in rats: mechanical alterations of left and right myocardium.

To determine the effects of chronic coronary artery narrowing on myocardial contractile performance, nonocclusive constriction of the left coronary artery near its origin was surgically induced in rats and global cardiac hemodynamics, left and right myocardial mechanics, and the magnitude and distribution of tissue damage and interstitial fibrosis in the left ventricular wall were analyzed 1 mo later. Reductions in coronary artery luminal diameter of 55% resulted in left ventricular failure as characterized by decreases in systemic arterial pressures, systolic ventricular pressure, rise and decay in first derivative of left ventricular pressure (+/- dP/dt), and an increase in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure. Right side dysfunction was also present as documented by an elevation in right ventricular end-diastolic pressure and a reduction in -dP/dt. In vitro measurements of papillary muscle mechanics revealed a biventricular reduction in isometric developed tension and peak rates of tension rise and decay. Moreover, the kinetic parameters of isometric contraction duration, time to peak tension and time to one-half relaxation, were significantly shorter in left muscles from coronary artery-narrowed animals. Isotonically, peak muscle shortening was reduced in the left muscle, whereas time to peak shortening was prolonged in the right myocardium. In addition, the velocities of muscle shortening and relengthening were decreased in both ventricles. Foci of replacement fibrosis and diffuse interstitial fibrosis were found in the epimyocardium, midmyocardium, and endomyocardium, demonstrating that a significant amount of myocyte loss occurred throughout the left ventricular wall.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Myocardial mechanics predict hemodynamic performance during normal function and alcohol-induced dysfunction in rats.

To determine whether mechanical evaluation of muscle tissue removed from the myocardium can be employed as a direct indicator of cardiac contractile performance in situ, isometric and isotonic parameters of muscle mechanics in vitro were correlated with in vivo global functional characteristics of the same heart. Twelve-month-old animals maintained on standard food and water were employed as representative of normal cardiac function. Animals of identical age with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction induced by oral alcohol (30%) ingestion from 4 to 12 mo were utilized to represent depressed cardiac performance. Accordingly, 24 h after the establishment of the hemodynamic profile for a control or experimental heart, the LV posterior papillary muscle was removed from the same heart and examined isometrically and isotonically. Least squares regression analysis was employed to establish a correlation coefficient and P values between various in vitro and in vivo parameters. Hemodynamic measurements were performed under chloral hydrate anesthesia and LV pump performance was evaluated with respect to aortic and ventricular pressures and the rates of rise and decay of the LV pressure trace. Papillary muscles were evaluated with respect to timing parameters of the isometric and isotonic twitch, the first derivative of isometric tension development, and the speed of muscle shortening at increasing physiologic loads. LV peak rate of pressure rise and decay were then correlated with the various isometric and isotonic properties. Myocardial mechanics and hemodynamics revealed depressed function in the papillary muscles and hearts from alcoholic rats. Moreover, significant correlations were found between the LV rate of pressure change (peak +dP/dt and -dP/dt) and both isometric and isotonic twitch measurements.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1991

Altered function and structure of the heart in dogs with chronic elevation in plasma norepinephrine.

BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that chronic elevation of plasma norepinephrine leads to a functional independent increase in left ventricular weight. The goals of the present study were to determine quantitatively the component of the myocardium that accounted for the observed structural changes and to determine the function of the hypertrophied myocardium. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mongrel dogs were chronically instrumented for measurement of arterial and left ventricular pressures, left ventricular internal diameter, and left ventricular wall thickness. Subcutaneous osmotic pumps were implanted to release norepinephrine continuously for 28 days. Hemodynamics were measured with dogs in the quietly resting state and during infusions of isoproterenol at 0.1 and 0.5 micrograms/kg/min before and on days 14 and 28 during the infusion of norepinephrine. The hemodynamic response to 10 micrograms/kg phenylephrine, given as a bolus, was also assessed before norepinephrine and 28 days during the infusion of norepinephrine, and the end-systolic pressure-diameter or wall-stress-diameter relations were calculated. On day 28, hearts were arrested in diastole and perfusion fixed in situ. Tissue samples were prepared for electron microscopy and morphometry. Hemodynamic studies showed that isoproterenol (0.5 micrograms/kg/min) reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP) to the same point on each experimental day, and the increases in indexes of contractility were reduced during norepinephrine infusion. Left ventricular dP/dtmax increased 131 +/- 24% on control day, only 67 +/- 20% on day 14, and 55 +/- 18% on day 28. Similar changes were observed in dP/dt/DP40 and dP/dt/end-diastolic circumference. However, Emax, the slope of the end-systolic pressure-diameter or wall stress diameter relations, was unchanged, suggesting that inotropic state was not altered. Morphometric studies showed that the cross-sectional area of myocytes increased by 55%, but myocyte and capillary densities decreased by 34% and 29%, respectively (p less than 0.05) in dogs with high norepinephrine levels. There were no differences in volume fractions of myocytes, capillary lumen, or interstitium or capillary-to-myocyte ratio. CONCLUSIONS: The myocardium of dogs with high norepinephrine levels shows reduced inotropic response to beta-adrenergic stimulation despite the increases in left ventricular mass and left ventricular wall thickness, which are a result of growth of the cardiac myocytes and characteristic of concentric hypertrophy. These data suggest that chronic adrenergic stimulation of the heart reduces the beta-receptor coupling to the contractile response without importantly compromising left ventricular function.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Cellular basis of chronic ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction in rats.

To determine whether the hypertrophic response of the surviving myocardium after infarction leads to normalization of ventricular hemodynamics and wall stress, the left coronary artery was ligated in rats. One month later, the rats were killed. In infarcts affecting an average 38% of the free wall of the left ventricle (small infarcts), reactive hypertrophy in the spared myocardium bordering and remote from the scar was documented by increases in myocyte cell volume per nucleus of 43% and 25%, respectively. These cellular enlargements resulted in a complete reconstitution of functioning tissue. However, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure was increased, left ventricular dP/dt was decreased, and diastolic wall stress was increased 2.4-fold. After infarctions resulting in a 60% loss of mass (large infarcts), myocyte hypertrophy was 81% and 32% in the regions adjacent to and distant from the scar, respectively. A 10% deficit was present in the recovery of viable myocardium. Functionally, ventricular performance was markedly depressed, and diastolic wall stress was increased ninefold. The alterations in loading of the spared myocardium were due to an increase in chamber volume and a decrease in the myocardial mass/chamber volume ratio that affected both infarct groups. Chamber dilation was the consequence of the combination of gross anatomic and cellular changes consisting, in the presence of small infarcts, of a 6% and a 19% increase in transverse midchamber diameter and in average myocyte length per nucleus, respectively. In the presence of large infarcts, transverse and longitudinal chamber diameters expanded by 27% and 11%, respectively, myocyte length per nucleus expanded by 26%, and the mural number of myocytes decreased by 10%. In conclusion, decompensated eccentric ventricular hypertrophy develops chronically after infarction, and growth processes in myocytes are inadequate for normalization of wall stress when myocyte loss involves nearly 40% or more of the cells of the left ventricular free wall. The persistance of elevated myocardial and cellular loads may sustain the progression of the disease state toward end-stage congestive heart failure.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1991

Cardiomyopathy of the aging human heart. Myocyte loss and reactive cellular hypertrophy.

To determine the effects of aging on the human myocardium, 67 hearts were obtained from individuals who died from causes other than cardiovascular disease. The age interval examined was 17-90 years. Regression analysis demonstrated that the aging process was characterized by a loss of 38 million and 14 million myocyte nuclei/yr in the left and right ventricular myocardium, respectively. This loss in muscle mass was accompanied by a progressive increase in myocyte cell volume per nucleus in both ventricles. Left ventricular myocytes enlarged by 110 microns3/yr, whereas right ventricular myocytes increased by 118 microns3/yr, resulting in a preservation of ventricular wall thickness. However, the cellular hypertrophic response was unable to maintain normal cardiac mass. Left and right ventricular weights decreased by 0.70 and 0.21 g/yr, respectively. In conclusion, loss of cells and enlargement of the remaining myocytes may represent the structural basis for the reduced compensatory capacity of the aged heart and together may contribute to the development of myocardial dysfunction and failure in the elderly.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Myocyte mitotic division in the aging mammalian rat heart.

To determine whether myocyte mitotic division occurs in the adult mammalian heart and whether this cellular process is affected by aging, we measured the percentage of myocyte nuclei showing metaphase chromosomes in myocytes isolated from the left and right ventricles of rats at 8-12, 19-24, and 28-32 months after birth. Metaphase chromosomes were found at all ages in both ventricles. However, from 8-12 to 28-32 months, the fraction of nuclei exhibiting metaphase chromosomes increased 6.3-fold and 2.3-fold in the left and right ventricles, respectively. Thus, myocyte cellular hyperplasia is present in the adult and aging myocardium as a compensatory mechanism to regenerate tissue mass and recover function, which are lost with the progression of life and senescence.

Aging↗

PubMed1991

Chronic nonocclusive coronary artery constriction in rats. Beta-adrenoceptor signal transduction and ventricular failure.

To determine the effects of chronic coronary artery constriction on the relationship between cardiac function and regulation of beta-adrenoceptor signal transduction, the left main coronary artery was narrowed in rats and the animals were killed 5 mo later. An average reduction in coronary luminal diameter of 44% was obtained and this change resulted in an increase in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and a decrease in positive and negative dP/dt. Significant increases in left and right ventricular weights indicative of global cardiac hypertrophy were observed. Radioligand binding studies of beta-adrenoreceptors, agonist-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity, and ADP ribosylation of 45-kD substrate by cholera toxin were all depressed in the failing left ventricle. In contrast, in the hypertrophic non-failing right ventricle, beta-adrenoreceptor density was preserved and receptor antagonist affinity was increased. In spite of these findings at the receptor level, agonist stimulated cyclic AMP generation was reduced in the right ventricular myocardium. The quantity of the 45-kD substrate was also decreased. In conclusion, longterm nonocclusive coronary artery stenosis of moderate degree has profound detrimental effects on the contractile performance of the heart in association with marked attenuation of adrenergic support mechanisms.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗

PubMed1991

Cellular basis of aging in the mammalian heart.

This review is concerned with the functional and structural changes occurring in the aging heart. These changes were investigated in an integrated fashion in Fischer 344 rats at 4, 12, 20, and 29 months after birth. Mean arterial pressure, left ventricular systolic and end-diastolic pressures, as well as stroke volume remained substantially constant up to 20 months. At 29 months, however, end-diastolic pressure was significantly increased, and dP/dt and stroke volume were depressed. Focal areas of interstitial and replacement fibrosis were markedly increased at 20 and 29 months, mostly in the subendocardial region of the ventricular wall. Also the aggregate number of mononucleated and binucleated cells in the left ventricle as a function of age was determined. The number of mononucleated cells increased up to 20 months but decreased thereafter; the binucleated cells showed a reversed pattern. The aging process of the heart involves a number of interrelated events including biochemical, electrical, mechanical and structural modifications. With aging and senescence, left ventricular failure develops in the Fischer rat model, and a similar process may occur in the human as well.

Aging↗

PubMed1991

Cardiac hypertrophy and ventricular remodeling.

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Animals↗

PubMed1990

Myocardial fibrosis and pathologic hypertrophy in the rat with renovascular hypertension.

An abnormal elevation in collagen concentration or myocardial fibrosis occurs in the hypertrophied left ventricle of the rat with renovascular hypertension (RHT). The structural nature and functional consequences of this fibrosis and the mechanisms involved in its appearance were reviewed for various phases of hypertrophy. Within days after the onset of renal ischemia, type I collagen messenger ribonucleic acid is expressed. An interstitial fibrosis follows, characterized by an increased dimension of existing perimysial fibers and the appearance of fibrillar collagen in spaces previously devoid of collagen, together with a perivascular fibrosis of intramyocardial coronary arteries. These expressions of myocardial fibrosis are associated with an increase in diastolic and systolic myocardial stiffness. Endomyocardial fibrosis serves to further increase diastolic stiffness while myocytes encircled by fibrillar collagen become atrophic. Each of these consequences of myocardial fibrosis reduce myocyte length-dependent force generation. At 32 weeks of RHT there is an obvious diastolic and systolic dysfunction of the ventricle together with heart failure that includes ventricular dilatation, wall thinning and reduced ejection fraction. The mechanisms involved in mediating fibrosis in RHT appear to be multiple. Myocyte necrosis and fibroblast proliferation have been associated with elevated circulating angiotensin II. Necrosis in RHT was not seen with captopril pretreatment or in the hypertension and hypertrophy that accompanied infrarenal aorta banding. An alteration in coronary artery permeability may be responsible for the perivascular fibrosis that is not seen with captopril pretreatment. Thus in RHT, the hemodynamic status of the ventricle determines myocyte hypertrophy while the elevation in circulating angiotensin II is responsible for the remodeling of nonmyocyte compartments, including the appearance of myocardial fibrosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Mechanisms of myocyte and capillary growth in the infarcted heart.

To identify the structural mechanisms of cardiac hypertrophy following myocardial infarction, the changes in the dimensional characteristics of the spared myocytes were measured 40 days after coronary occlusion. Further, to determine whether tissue oxygenation in the hypertrophied ventricle was supported by a proportional growth of the capillary network, morphometric analysis was used to measure capillary luminal volume and surface densities, and the diffusion distance for oxygen. Large infarcts of the ventricle (50%) produced a 10% increase in myocyte diameter and a 38% increase in myocyte length. Small infarcts (23%) induced 6% and 15% expansions of cellular diameter and length. After large infarcts, there was a 22% decrease in capillary numerical density that resulted in an 18% reduction in capillary surface and a 16% increase in the diffusion distance for oxygen. The 15% reduction in capillary numerical density seen with small infarcts was associated with a 10% decrease in surface and a 9% increase in diffusion distance. In conclusion, cardiac hypertrophy following myocardial infarction is consistent with cellular shape changes characteristic of a combination of concentric and eccentric hypertrophic growth. The relatively inadequate adaptation of the capillary vasculature suggests that the injured ventricle is more vulnerable to additional ischaemic episodes.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Severe myocardial dysfunction induced by ventricular remodeling in aging rat hearts.

To determine if aging engenders alterations in the functional properties of the myocardium and ventricular remodeling, the hemodynamic performance and structural characteristics of the left ventricle of male Fischer 344 rats at 4, 12, 20, and 29 mo of age were studied by quantitative physiology and morphology. In vivo assessment of cardiac pump function showed no change up to 20 mo, whereas left ventricular end-diastolic pressure was increased at 29 mo. Moreover, peak rates of pressure rise and decay, stroke volume, ejection fraction, and cardiac output were depressed at the later age interval, demonstrating the presence of ventricular failure at this time. The measurements of chamber size and wall thickness showed that ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes progressively increased with age with the greatest change occurring at 20-29 mo. Aging was also accompanied by a marked augmentation in the volume fraction of fibrotic areas in the ventricular myocardium that was due to an increase in their number and cross-sectional area with time. These architectural rearrangements, in combination with the abnormalities in ventricular function, resulted in an elevation in the volume of wall stress throughout the cardiac cycle. Wall stress increased by 64, 44, and 50% from 4 to 12, 12 to 20, and 20 to 29 mo of age. In conclusion, aging leads to a continuous rise in wall stress that is not normalized by ventricular remodeling. These two independent processes appear to be responsible for the onset of heart failure in the senescent rat.

Aging↗

PubMed1990

Left ventricular failure induced by long-term hypertension in rats.

To determine whether the duration of hypertension is an essential component in the evolution of myocardial dysfunction, renal artery constriction was performed in male Fischer 344 rats at 4 months of age, and in vivo global cardiac performance of sham-operated and experimental animals was evaluated 8 months later. Systemic arterial blood pressure increased to 173 +/- 5 mm Hg 2 weeks after the arteries were clipped and remained elevated for the following 5 months. Blood pressure decreased over the remaining 3 months to a value not significantly different from control rats that were killed, 132 +/- 4 mm Hg. After 8 months of renovascular hypertension, we observed that the elevated level of systolic arterial pressure was accompanied by a distinct absence of left ventricular hypertrophy when measured at the ventricular weight level. Moreover, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure increased in hypertensive animals from 6.0 to 24.0 mm Hg while peak left ventricular pressure was identical to controls. In addition, peak +dP/dt and -dP/dt were depressed in hypertensive animals. Although stroke volume was unaltered, cardiac output in renal artery clipped animals was depressed by 34% while total peripheral resistance was elevated by 50%. Ventricular chamber remodeling in the hearts of hypertensive animals was evidenced as a 19% increase in the transverse and a 16% increase in the longitudinal axes of the left ventricle with a 27% diminution of wall thickness. Myocardial damage, in the form of myocyte loss and replacement fibrosis, increased in the hearts of hypertensive animals resulting in a ninefold augmentation in the volume fraction of collagen within the ventricular wall. These alterations in the architectural properties of chamber geometry coupled with the abnormalities in contractile performance resulted in a severe reduction in ejection fraction from 82% to 47% and a marked elevation in transmural diastolic and systolic stress in hypertensive animals. The gradient in stress across the ventricular wall, from epicardium to endocardium, revealed a direct correlation with the regional distribution of myocardial damage. In conclusion, the loading state of the myocardium, tissue injury, and myocardial fibrosis all appear to be critical determinants in the genesis of left ventricular failure in long-term pressure overload.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Side-to-side slippage of myocytes participates in ventricular wall remodeling acutely after myocardial infarction in rats.

Animals↗