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Biomedical subjects

R K Li

Publications and source records attributed to R K Li.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

A prescription survey in a hospital hypertension outpatient clinic.

AIMS: The objective of this study was to investigate drug utilization in the management of hypertension in Hong Kong. METHODS: We conducted a prescription survey to examine the use of antihypertensive drugs in a hypertension clinic in a regional hospital and the resulting expenditure incurred. The use of concurrent medications such as antidiabetic drugs and lipid-lowering agents was also examined. RESULTS: During a 7-week study period, 530 prescriptions were collected. All except 14 patients received antihypertensive drugs with 262 (50.8%) on monotherapy and 254 (49.2%) on combination therapy. Calcium channel blocking agents and beta-adrenoceptor blocking agents were the two most popular antihypertensive drugs used in both monotherapy (38% and 31%, respectively) and combination therapy (27% and 33%, respectively). Forty-nine patients (19%) received three antihypertensive drugs or more. The number of antihypertensive drugs showed a significant positive correlation with the duration of attendance at the clinic (r=0.88, P < 0.001). Of the total 530 prescriptions, 5.6% and 10% contained antidiabetic drugs and lipid-lowering agents, respectively. Calcium channel blocking agents, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and lipid lowering agents, accounted for 82% (HK$211,654; pounds sterling 1 approximately HK$12) of the total drug expenditure (HK$258,115). Seventy-nine percent of the lipid lowering agents prescribed were hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase inhibitors. Amlodipine accounted for 26% of usage but contributed to 41% of the overall costs of calcium channel blocking agents. Alpha1-adrenoceptor blocking agents were only used infrequently and were the most expensive class of drugs, due to the preferred use of doxazosin rather than prazosin which is far cheaper than the former. CONCLUSIONS: In view of the use of these often costly drugs for long-term therapy, monitoring of their use and its correlation with clinical outcomes and quality of life is essential to ensure the optimal use of health care resources.

Antihypertensive Agents↗
PubMed1997

Preconditioning cultured human pediatric myocytes requires adenosine and protein kinase C.

We showed previously that 20 min of low-volume anoxia ("ischemia") and 20 min of "reperfusion" preconditions quiescent pediatric myocyte cultures against damage resulting from 90 min of subsequent prolonged ischemia and 30 min of reperfusion. The purpose of this study was to assess the roles of adenosine and protein kinase C (PKC) in this preconditioning model. Our results suggest that 1) preconditioned myocytes secrete a protective mediator(s) into the "ischemic" supernatant that is transferable to other cells, and adenosine is released into the supernatant in quantities sufficient for adenosine-receptor activation (2) preconditioning is inhibited by adenosine-receptor antagonism, and myocyte protection similar to preconditioning can be achieved with exogenously administered adenosine or adenosine-receptor stimulation; (3) brief ischemic and adenosine-induced myocyte preconditioning is mimicked by the phorbol ester 4beta-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PKC agonist) and inhibited by PKC antagonists; and (4) brief ischemic and adenosine-induced myocyte preconditioning both induce PKC translocation to myocyte membranes and increase the PKC phosphorylation rate. These data suggest that adenosine released from ischemic human pediatric myocytes mediates preconditioning through activation of PKC.

Adenosine↗
PubMed1996

Human pediatric and adult ventricular cardiomyocytes in culture: assessment of phenotypic changes with passaging.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess morphologically and biochemically the phenotypic changes which occur in vitro with passaging of human pediatric and adult ventricular cardiomyocytes. METHODS: Human ventricular cardiomyocytes from 3 children (1 to 2 years of age) and an adult patient (65 years of age) undergoing open heart surgery and an adult heart transplant patient (55 years of age) were isolated, cultured, purified, and passaged. Growth curves and 3H-thymidine uptake studies were performed. Characterization of the cells was done by light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, immunofluorescent staining for myoglobin, CK-MB, and cardiac-specific troponin I isoform, human ventricular myosin heavy chain (HVMHC) and light chain 1 (HVMLC1), Northern blot analysis of HVMHC, and CK-MB activity and mass measurements. Passage 3 cardiomyocyte and pediatric myocardial phospholipids were analysed by gas chromatography. RESULTS: Pediatric cells were smaller (P < 0.01) and divided faster (P < 0.001, ANOCOVA) than adult cells. The cardiomyocytes showed phenotypic changes in primary culture with essentially complete loss of sarcomeres by 10 days and a gradual loss of myofilaments with passaging. The cells were identified as cardiomyocytes by immunohistochemistry for myoglobin, CK-MB, cardiac-specific troponin I isoform, HVMHC and HVMLC1, and by Northern blot analysis for the 3'-end of HVMHC mRNA. The composition of phospholipid fatty acids in the cultured pediatric cells was similar to that found in the pediatric myocardium. CK-MB activity and mass could be measured in the cardiomyocytes. The adult cardiomyocytes were more difficult to maintain than the pediatric cells which could be cultured for as long as 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Primary cultures of human pediatric and adult partially differentiated ventricular cardiomyocytes can be passaged. Although rapid disorganization of the myofibrils occurs, the non-contractile cells can be identified as cardiomyocytes by morphological appearance, immunofluorescent staining, Northern blot analysis for HVMHC, and CK-MB activity.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗
PubMed1996

Effect of vitamin E on human glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX1) expression in cardiomyocytes.

To determine the effect of vitamin E on cellular antioxidant enzymes, human ventricular cardiomyocytes were incubated with 200 microM all-racemic-alpha-tocopheryl acetate for 14 d at pO2s of 150 and 40 mm Hg. Cellular Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase, catalase, and GSH-Px1 activities were measured. Although SOD and catalase activities were unaffected by alpha-tocopherol, GSH-Px1 activities increased (p < .0001) as much as twofold. This increase was independent of oxygen tension and selenium. The increase in GSH-Px1 activity became significant (p < .01) by day 4. A nonantioxidant analog of alpha-tocopherol, 200 microM RRR-alpha-tocopherol methyl ether, did not affect GSH-Px1 activities. Although GSH-Px1 mRNA levels mirrored the changes in enzyme activities, the de novo nuclear GSH-Px1 transcript synthesis was unaffected by alpha-tocopherol. Because the increase in GSH-Px1 activities also occurred after cellular alpha-tocopherol levels had plateaued, the above results were most consistent with posttranscriptional stabilization of GSH-Px1 mRNA by alpha-tocopherol or an alpha-tocopherol-related metabolic product.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1996

Cardiomyocyte transplantation improves heart function.

BACKGROUND: Transplantation of cultured cardiomyocytes into myocardial scar tissue may prevent heart failure. METHODS: Scar tissue was produced in the left ventricular free wall of 15 rats (weight, 450 g) by cryoinjury. Seven animals had operation only and survived for 8 weeks (sham group). Four weeks after cryoinjury, cultured fetal rat cardiomyocytes or culture medium was injected into the scar tissue of transplantation (n = 5) and control (n = 5) animals, respectively. Five other rats were sacrificed for scar assessment. Eight weeks after cryoinjury heart function in the transplantation, control, and sham groups was measured using a Langendorff preparation. Histologic studies were performed to quantify the extent of the scar and the transplanted cells. RESULTS: Four weeks after cryoinjury, 36% +/- 4% (mean +/- 1 standard error) of the left ventricular free wall surface area was scar tissue. At 8 weeks, the scar size had increased (p < 0.01) to 55% +/- 3% in the control group. Although the scar size (43% +/- 2%) in the transplantation group at 8 weeks was not significantly different from that at 4 weeks, it was less (p < 0.05) than that in the control group. Hearts in the sham group had no scar tissue. The transplanted cardiomyocytes had formed cardiac tissue within the myocardial scar. Systolic and developed pressures in the transplantation group hearts were greater (p = 0.0001) than in the control group hearts but less (p < 0.01) than those in the sham group hearts. CONCLUSIONS: The transplanted cardiomyocytes formed cardiac tissue in the myocardial scar, limited scar expansion, and improved heart function compared with findings in the control hearts.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

In vivo survival and function of transplanted rat cardiomyocytes.

Recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of transplanting fetal mouse cardiomyocytes into the hearts of adult syngeneic mice. However, the function of the transplanted cardiomyocytes and their capacity to survive in fibrous connective tissue were not assessed. In the present study, we evaluated the viability and contractility of transplanted fetal and neonatal rat cardiomyocytes in the connective tissue of the adult rat hindlimb. Purified fetal or neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were cultured. These cells contained sarcomeres, formed junctions composed of desmosomes and fascia adherens, and contracted regularly and spontaneously. A fetal or neonatal cardiomyocyte suspension was injected into the subcutaneous tissue of adult rat hindlimbs. Cyclosporin A (5 mg/kg) was administered subcutaneously daily for the 3-month duration of the study, at which time the animals were killed. The transplanted cardiomyocytes formed 'tissue' in vivo that increased in size for the first 2 weeks and remained the same size at the third week. The tissue derived from the transplanted fetal cardiomyocytes contracted spontaneously at a rate of 73 +/- 12 bpm, and that from the neonatal cardiomyocytes contracted at a rate of 43 +/- 21 bpm. The electrocardiogram was similar to that seen in myocardium with an idioventricular rhythm. Histologically, the tissue appeared to be cardiac muscle with sarcomeres. Angiogenesis occurred in the cardiomyocyte graft. In summary, a cell suspension of cultured fetal and neonatal rat cardiomyocytes transplanted into the adult rat hindlimb formed contractile cardiac tissue in the subcutaneous connective tissue.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Cardiac storage with University of Wisconsin solution and a nucleoside-transport blocker.

Findings from previous investigations conducted at this institution and others have suggested that University of Wisconsin solution (UWS) is preferable for the prolonged hypothermic storage of hearts before transplantation. The benefit seen with UWS may in part be related to the inclusion of adenosine (5 mmol/L) in the UWS. To investigate whether further manipulations of adenosine metabolism might enhance myocardial protection, studies were initially conducted using cultured myocytes, followed by confirmatory experiments using isolated rat hearts. Cultured human ventricular myocytes (7 to 8 dishes/group) were stored for 12 hours at 0 degrees C in unmodified UWS or UWS supplemented with increasing concentrations (1 to 100 mumol/L) of the nucleoside-transport blocker p-nitrobenzylthioinosine. The adenosine triphosphate concentrations were found to be enhanced with nucleoside-transport inhibition, with the best results achieved with the 1- and 3-mumol/L groups (control, 3.37 +/- 0.41 nmol/micrograms DNA; UWS, 2.89 +/- 1.31 nmol/micrograms DNA; 1 mumol/L, 5.91 +/- 3.23 nmol/micrograms DNA; 3 mumol/L, 7.86 +/- 3.45 nmol/micrograms DNA; p < 0.05 versus control or UWS group). Isolated rodent hearts from Sprague-Dawley rats were prepared on a Langendorff apparatus with an intraventricular balloon and subsequently stored for 8 hours at 0 degrees C in unmodified UWS (13 hearts/group) or UWS supplemented with 1 or 3 mumol/L of p-nitrobenzylthioinosine (9 to 10 hearts/group).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenine Nucleotides↗
PubMed1994

Preconditioning human ventricular cardiomyocytes with brief periods of simulated ischaemia.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to test for "ischaemic" preconditioning in monolayer cultures of quiescent human ventricular cardiomyocytes. METHODS: Stabilised cardiomyocytes (n = 8 plates per group) were preconditioned with varying periods of simulated ischaemia and reperfusion, followed in all groups by 90 min of sustained "ischaemia" with or without 30 min of reperfusion. Cellular injury was assessed by trypan blue exclusion and survival was assessed by culturing the cells for 24 h postintervention. In addition, separate groups of cell plates (n = 8 per group) which had first been preconditioned with 20 min ischaemia and 20 min reperfusion were exposed to either 30, 60, or 90 min sustained ischaemia or 90 min sustained ischaemia with 30 min reperfusion. The supernatants and/or cell homogenates were analysed for hydrogen ion, lactate, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and adenine nucleotides and degradation products. RESULTS: Preconditioning (PC) decreased trypan blue uptake following subsequent sustained ischaemia, with the 20 min ischaemia/20 min reperfusion (20/20) regimen having the most profound effect [control ischaemia: 37.0(SEM 2.1); 10/10: 23.9(1.5); 20/20: 15.4(1.4); 30/30: 25.8(2.1) percent blue stained cells, p < 0.05 by ANOVA/Duncan]. The 20/20 preconditioning regimen resulted in less hydrogen ion [control: 2.1(0.4); PC: 1.4(0.1) mmol.g-1 protein, p < 0.05] and less LDH release [control: 20.7(3.1); PC: 11.9(4.2) units.g-1 protein, p < 0.05]. At 90 min of sustained ischaemia, the control group had produced significantly greater lactate [intracellular: control 1.55(0.62); PC 0.54(0.23) mol.g-1 DNA, p < 0.05; extracellular: control 0.47(0.09); PC 0.33(0.07) mol.g-1 DNA, p < 0.05]. There were no differences in ATP depletion in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Ischaemic preconditioning can be induced in human cardiomyocytes independent of other cell types. The effect can be established in human cell cultures.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1994

Oxyradical-induced antioxidant and lipid changes in cultured human cardiomyocytes.

Because the chronically cyanotic myocardium is thought to be more susceptible to oxyradical injury than the noncyanotic myocardium during cardiovascular surgery, we studied the oxyradical susceptibility of human ventricular cardiomyocytes cultured at high and low oxygen tension (PO2) levels. Passage 4 tetralogy of Fallot cardiomyocytes were cultured at PO2 levels of 150 and 40 mmHg for 14 days and then exposed for 10 min to superoxide radicals. The cellular levels of ATP, phospholipid fatty acids, phospholipid conjugated dienes, alpha-tocopherol, and activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase were measured. ATP levels decreased more markedly in the low-PO2 group. Although the decrease in alpha-tocopherol levels was similar for both groups, phospholipid conjugated diene formation and phospholipid unsaturated fatty acid loss was greater in the low-PO2 cells. Glutathione peroxidase activity was rapidly inhibited. Superoxide dismutase activity was unaffected, and catalase activity was inhibited by no more than 50%. Although extracellular superoxide dismutase with catalase did not inhibit phospholipid conjugated diene formation and phospholipid breakdown, extracellular glutathione peroxidase with reduced glutathione did limit phospholipid damage. With the occurrence of membrane lipid peroxidation, the decreased glutathione peroxidase activity in the cyanotic tetralogy of Fallot myocardium determines cardiomyocyte membrane susceptibility to oxidant injury.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1993

Chemical syntheses of Trolox conjugates which protect human ventricular myocytes against in situ-generated oxyradicals.

Synthetic conjugates of the antioxidant Trolox (6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethyl chroman-2-carboxylic acid) have been prepared by coupling it with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl-amino-propyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride either to p-aminophenyl-beta-D-lactopyranoside, or to higher molecular weight ligands such as dextran and polylysine. Compared to Trolox and on a mole to mole basis, dextran-Trolox is almost equally active, while lactosylphenyl- and polylysine-Trolox conjugates are distinctly more active in preventing the damage on human ventricular myocytes by oxyradicals generated from xanthine oxidase-hypoxanthine. Listed in order of decreasing cytoprotective activity, they are: lactosylphenyl-Trolox >> polylysine-Trolox > Trolox > dextran-Trolox. Thus, Trolox can be chemically modified by coupling it to one of a number of ligands and, in some cases, with resultant increases in its ability to protect human ventricular myocytes from oxyradical damage.

Antioxidants↗
PubMed1993

Chemical definition of an epitope/adhesin molecule on Candida albicans.

An antigen (Ag), as defined by reactivity with a monoclonal antibody (mAb 10G), was found on the cell wall surface and on the plasma membrane of Candida albicans yeast cells (Li, R. K., and Cutler, J. E. (1991) J. Gen. Microbiol. 137, 455-464). The 10G Ag from the cell surface location was solubilized by treatment with beta-mercaptoethanol and Zymolyase. Antigenic activity of the extract was lost following periodate oxidation, but was stable to proteolytic enzyme and heat treatments. Mannoproteins in the extract were fractionated by hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide. A fraction containing the 10G Ag was degraded by mild acid hydrolysis and a tetrahexose eluted from a P-2 size exclusion column was found to be the epitope (10G epitope) part of the 10G Ag. By use of gas-liquid chromatography, mass spectroscopy, and H-1 proton NMR analysis, the 10G epitope was determined to be a linear beta-1,2-linked tetramannose. The 10G Ag, which was immunopurified from the Zymolyase extract, and the 10G epitope were involved in the attachment of C. albicans to mouse spleen marginal zone macrophages. Both the 10G Ag and the purified 10G epitope specifically inhibited C. albicans adherence in an ex vivo binding assay. Latex beads adsorbed with the 10G Ag or the 10G epitope adhered specifically to the splenic marginal zone macrophages. These data show that a beta-1,2-linked mannotetraose part of a C. albicans cell wall mannoprotein is an adhesin site that may play a role in pathogenesis of disseminated candidiasis.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Comparison of two experimental models for assessment of cardiac preservation.

Previous studies from this institution using human cell cultures have suggested that University of Wisconsin solution is preferred for prolonged hypothermic storage for cardiac transplantation. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of extended cardiac preservation with University of Wisconsin solution by assessing the time-related changes of purine metabolites using two different models of cold storage. Isolated rat hearts (n = 6/group) or human ventricular myocyte cultures (n = 7 dishes/group) were assessed after 0, 6, 12, and 24 hours in University of Wisconsin solution at 0 degrees C using high-performance liquid chromatography. Adenosine triphosphate content decreased from 18.1 +/- 5.4 to 9.6 +/- 2.7 mumol/g dried weight by 12 hours and to 1.0 +/- 0.6 mumol/g by 24 hours (p < 0.0001 by analysis of variance) in the rat model. Adenosine triphosphate content decreased from 0.64 +/- 0.42 to 0.14 +/- 0.11 nmol/micrograms DNA at 6 hours and to 0.04 +/- 0.03 nmol/micrograms DNA by 24 hours (p < 0.00001) in the cardiomyocytes. Inosine monophosphate content increased from 0.1 +/- 0.2 to 10.8 +/- 1.0 by 24 hours (p < 0.0001) in the rat studies. Inosine monophosphate values tended to increase up to 12 hours (p = 0.06) in the cell cultures and then declined. Adenosine concentration increased from 0.3 +/- 0.3 to 2.3 +/- 0.9 mumol/g at 6 hours and declined thereafter (p < 0.0005) in the rodent hearts. Adenosine concentration increased from 0.03 +/- 0.02 to 1.53 +/- 0.72 nmol/micrograms DNA at 6 hours (p < 0.0001) in the cardiomyocytes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenosine↗
PubMed1992

Cultured vascular endothelial cell susceptibility to extracellularly generated oxidant injury.

To understand better the effect of oxidant injury on vascular endothelial cells, human saphenous vein endothelial cells were cultured at atmospheric (pO2 of 150 mmHg) or low (pO2 of 40 mmHg) oxygen tensions. The cellular rates of growth, antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase), phospholipid fatty acids and cellular susceptibility to extracellularly generated oxidants (hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase) were measured. The antioxidant enzyme activities were regulated by oxygen tension and significantly differed by day 14. The cells cultured at the low oxygen tension had significantly (P less than 0.01) lower antioxidant activities than the cells cultured at the high oxygen tension. The cells cultured at an oxygen tension of 150 mmHg were more resistant to shrinkage and lipid peroxidation from the oxidants than the cells cultured at a pO2 of 40 mmHg by day 14. Since arterial and venous endothelial cells are perfused with blood at a pO2 of 100 and 40 mmHg, respectively, the postcapillary venous endothelial cells should have lower antioxidant enzyme activities than the precapillary arterial endothelial cells.

Catalase↗
PubMed1992

Analysis of the upstream regulatory region of human ventricular myosin light chain 1 gene.

To explore the mechanisms regulating expression of ventricular myosin light chain 1, the human gene including 5'-flanking DNA was cloned and characterized by Southern blot and restriction mapping. A 2 kb 5'-flanking DNA was sequenced and linked to a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene. The constructs then were transfected into cultured human and rat cardiomyocytes as well as rat aortic endothelial cells. Deletion analysis of constructs revealed that the basal promoter sequences, which were located within 62 base pairs of the cap site, could direct high levels of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene expression in the cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells. The region between -62 to -312 base pairs strongly repressed the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene expression in the cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells. Positive elements were found between -312 and -2000 base pairs of the cap site. These results are indicative, among other possibilities, that the human ventricular myosin light chain 1 gene is turned on in cardiomyocytes by the presence of trans-acting factors that are bound to upstream positive elements and is turned off in non-muscle cells by the presence of repressor-binding proteins. But this mechanism remains to be established.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

In vitro assessment of the effects of glucose added to the University of Wisconsin solution on myocyte preservation.

BACKGROUND: University of Wisconsin solution (UWS) has been successfully used for liver transplantation and may be beneficial for hypothermic cardiac storage. The addition of glucose may enhance myocardial preservation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cultured human ventricular myocytes (eight dishes per group) were stored at 0 degree C for 12 hours in either unmodified UWS or UWS with glucose (1, 3, 10, 30, or 100 mmol/l). Cells were assayed for protein by spectrofluorometry and adenine nucleotides by high performance liquid chromatography after storage. Protein recovery, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and total adenine nucleotides (ATP+ADP+AMP) were all depleted after storage (p < 0.0001 by ANOVA). Protein recovery (p < 0.005), ATP (p < 0.05), and ADP (p < 0.05) were increased with glucose administration compared with unmodified UWS. Improvement was maximal using 30 mmol/l (protein, 0 mmol/l = 0.48 +/- 0.14 and 30 mmol/l = 0.65 +/- 0.11 mg per dish; ATP, 0 mmol/l = 3.08 +/- 0.63 and 30 mmol/l = 4.32 +/- 0.90 nmol/mg protein; ADP, 0 mmol/l = 3.76 +/- 0.80 and 30 mmol/l = 4.63 +/- 0.38 nmol/mg protein, mean +/- SD). Total adenine nucleotides tended to increase at any glucose concentration (p = 0.07 by ANOVA) and were significantly better with 30 mmol/l glucose (0 mmol/l = 7.61 +/- 1.58 and 30 mmol/l = 9.62 +/- 1.08 nmol/mg protein). CONCLUSIONS: Increasing the glucose concentration from 0 to 30 mmol/l improved adenine nucleotide and cellular protein preservation in this in vitro assessment.

Adenine Nucleotides↗
PubMed1992

Effect of oxygen tension and cardiovascular operations on the myocardial antioxidant enzyme activities in patients with tetralogy of Fallot and aorta-coronary bypass.

Since the chronically cyanotic myocardium appears to be more susceptible to reperfusion injury after cardiac operations than the noncyanotic myocardium, we studied the association between the preoperative arterial oxygen tension and the myocardial superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities. Fourteen patients with tetralogy of Fallot scheduled for elective operations had baseline arterial blood gas measurements done before operation. During the operation right ventricular biopsy specimens were taken for enzyme analysis immediately before cold blood cardioplegic arrest and 20 minutes after crossclamp removal. The tissue antioxidant enzyme activities of the patients with tetralogy of Fallot were compared with the myocardial results in 15 adults with stable angina pectoris having elective aorta-coronary artery bypass graft operations. Myocardial tissues removed from two patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy who had corrective operations were analyzed for antioxidant activities. There were no changes in myocardial antioxidant enzyme activities during the operation in the patients with tetralogy of Fallot and coronary artery bypass graft. The myocardial superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities correlated (0.82, 0.68, and 0.89, respectively) significantly (p values were less than 0.01, 0.05, and 0.01, respectively) with the preoperative arterial oxygen tensions in the patients with tetralogy of Fallot. The myocardial glutathione peroxidase activities were at least four times higher in the myocardium of patients with coronary artery bypass graft and hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy than in that of those with tetralogy of Fallot. This study provides putative evidence that the myocardium of patients with tetralogy of Fallot is a risk of oxygen-derived free radical injury during and immediately after corrective cardiovascular operations.

Catalase↗