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Glycogen metabolism in the aerobic hypertrophied rat heart.

BACKGROUND: Rates of glycolysis from exogenous glucose are accelerated in hypertrophied hearts. In this study, we determined whether alterations in the metabolism of glycogen, an endogenous storage form of glucose, also occur in hypertrophied hearts. METHODS AND RESULTS: Rates of glycolysis ([3H]H2O production) and oxidation ([14C]CO2 production) from exogenous glucose and glycogen were measured in isolated working hearts from control and aortic-banded rats. Hearts in which glycogen was prelabeled with [5-(3)H]- or [U-(14)C]glucose were perfused with buffer containing 11 mmol/L [5-(3)H]- or [U-(14)C]glucose (different from the isotope used to prelabel glycogen), 0.4 mmol/L palmitate, 0.5 mmol/L lactate, and 100 microU/mL insulin. Rates of glycolysis from exogenous glucose were greater (3471+/-114 versus 2665+/-194 nmol glucose x min(-1) x g dry wt(-1), P<.05, n=4 to 6, mean+/-SEM) and rates of exogenous glucose oxidation (445+/-36 versus 619+/-16 nmol glucose x min(-1) x g dry wt(-1), P<.05, n=4 to 6) were lower in hypertrophied hearts than in control hearts. Rates of glycolysis and oxidation from glycogen were not different between hypertrophied and control hearts. A greater proportion of glycogen was oxidized (80% to 100%) than the proportion of exogenous glucose oxidized (13% to 24%) in both groups. Additionally, 10.5+/-1.4 and 12.3+/-1.0 micromol/g dry wt of glycogen was synthesized in hypertrophied and control hearts, respectively, indicating that simultaneous synthesis and degradation (ie, glycogen turnover) occurred in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, aerobic myocardial glycogen metabolism in the hypertrophied heart is similar to that observed in the normal heart even though exogenous glucose metabolism is altered in the hypertrophied heart.

Animals↗

The angiotensin II type 2 receptor causes constitutive growth of cardiomyocytes and does not antagonize angiotensin II type 1 receptor-mediated hypertrophy.

Angiotensin II (Ang II) has important actions on the heart via type 1 (AT1) and type 2 (AT2) receptors. The link between AT1 receptor activation and the hypertrophy of cardiomyocytes is accepted, whereas the contribution of the AT2 receptor, which reportedly antagonizes the AT1 receptor, is contentious. This ambiguity is primarily based on in vivo approaches, in which the direct effect of the AT2 receptor and its modulation of the AT1 receptor (at the level of the cardiomyocyte) are difficult to establish. In this study, we used adenoviruses encoding AT1 and AT2 to coexpress these receptors in isolated cardiomyocytes, allowing a direct examination of the consequence of varying AT1/AT2 stoichiometry on cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. In myocytes expressing only the AT1 receptor, Ang II stimulation promoted robust hypertrophy (increased protein:DNA ratio and phenotypic changes) via activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). Titration of the AT2 receptor against the AT1 receptor did not inhibit Ang II-mediated cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Instead, basal and Ang II-mediated hypertrophy was increased in line with the amplified expression of the AT2 receptor, indicating a capacity for the AT2 receptor to enhance basal cardiomyocyte growth. Indeed, expression of the AT2 receptor alone resulted in hypertrophy; remarkably, this was unaffected by Ang II stimulation or the AT2 receptor-specific ligands PD123319 and CGP42112. Although previous studies have indicated that the AT2 receptor can antagonize MAPK activation via the AT1 receptor, we found no evidence for this in cardiomyocytes. Thus, the AT2 receptor promotes ligand-independent, constitutive cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and does not directly antagonize the AT1 receptor in this setting.

Adenoviridae↗

Impaired left ventricular functional reserve in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy.

To determine whether patients with hypertension and especially those with left ventricular hypertrophy have subtle changes in cardiac function, we measured the increase in left ventricular ejection fraction and in systolic blood pressure to end-systolic volume index ratio with exercise in 40 hypertensive patients and 16 age-matched normotensive volunteers. Twenty-two hypertensive patients without hypertrophy had normal end-systolic wall stress at rest and exercise responses. In contrast, the 18 patients with echocardiographic criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy demonstrated a significant increase in end-systolic wall stress at rest compared with normal subjects (69 +/- 16 vs. 55 +/- 15 10(3) x dyne/cm2, p less than 0.05) despite having normal resting left ventricular size and ejection fraction. In patients with left ventricular hypertrophy, the increase in ejection fraction with exercise was less than in the normotensive control subjects (7 +/- 7 vs. 12 +/- 8 units, p less than 0.05), and delta systolic blood pressure to end-systolic volume with exercise was reduced (3.3 +/- 3.8 vs. 8.3 +/- 7.7 mm Hg/ml/m2, p less than 0.05). The hypertensive patients with hypertrophy displayed a shift downward and to the right in the relation between systolic blood pressure to end-systolic volume ratio and end-systolic wall stress compared with control subjects and hypertensive patients without left ventricular hypertrophy. Thus, hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy by echocardiography and normal resting ejection fraction exhibit abnormal ventricular functional responses to exercise. This finding may have implications in identifying patients at higher risk for developing heart failure.

Adult↗

Important role of angiotensin II-mediated c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase activation in cardiac hypertrophy in hypertensive rats.

In vitro studies on the role of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase family (extracellular signal-regulated kinase [ERK], c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase [JNK], and p38) in cardiac hypertrophic response have produced confusing and contradictory results. We examined the in vivo role of the angiotensin II type 1 (AT(1)) receptor in cardiac MAP kinase activities during both the onset and development of cardiac hypertrophy in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). In both the acute and chronic phases of cardiac hypertrophy in SHRSP, cardiac JNK activities were significantly increased compared with those in normotensive rats, whereas there was no prominent increase in cardiac ERK or p38 activities in SHRSP. Losartan, an AT(1) receptor antagonist, prevented the onset of cardiac hypertrophy and regressed the progression of cardiac hypertrophy in SHRSP, being accompanied by the reduction of JNK activity and activator protein-1 (AP-1) activity in SHRSP. However, in spite of the normalization of blood pressure, hydralazine did not prevent or regress cardiac hypertrophy and did not decrease JNK or AP-1 activity in SHRSP. Inversely, hydralazine significantly increased the cardiac ERK activity in SHRSP by enhancing its phosphorylation. In conclusion, we have obtained the first evidence that the AT(1) receptor is involved in the enhanced cardiac JNK activity in both the onset and development of cardiac hypertrophy of hypertensive rats. We propose that JNK is involved in AT(1) receptor-mediated cardiac hypertrophy in vivo, in part mediated by the activation of AP-1.

Acute Disease↗

Left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertension. Prevalence and relationship to pathophysiologic variables.

In less than a decade since development of echocardiographic measurement of left ventricular muscle mass, studies using this technique have provided considerable information about the prevalence and pathophysiology of left ventricular hypertrophy in human hypertension. Increased left ventricular mass has been found in a significant minority of patients with systemic hypertension, with the exact prevalence dependent both on how a population is selected and on the sex, race, and possibly age composition of its members. All published studies have reported that left ventricular hypertrophy is more closely related to blood pressure recorded in the patient's natural setting during normal activity or exercise-whether measured by portable recorder or home manometer-than to blood pressure measured by the physician. In addition, studies indicate that the classic hypertensive abnormalities of concentric left ventricular hypertrophy and increased peripheral resistance are interrelated, while left ventricular hypertrophy is absent in a subgroup of patients with mild essential hypertension who exhibit high cardiac output and evidence of supernormal myocardial contractility. Conversely, the left ventricular functional response to exercise is inversely related to the degree of hypertrophy. High levels of blood viscosity, which would tend to blunt the reduction in peripheral resistance expected during sleep or exercise, have also been associated with left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with essential hypertension. Echocardiographic studies have provided evidence both for and against the hypothesis that activity of the sympathetic or reninangiotensin systems plays a direct role in causing hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy. These findings demonstrate the useful role that echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular structure and function may play in hypertension research.

Age Factors↗

Inducible cAMP early repressor (ICER) is a negative-feedback regulator of cardiac hypertrophy and an important mediator of cardiac myocyte apoptosis in response to beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation.

Although stimulation of the beta-adrenergic receptor increases levels of cAMP and activation of the cAMP response element (CRE) in cardiac myocytes, the role of the signaling mechanism regulated by cAMP in hypertrophy and apoptosis is not well understood. In this study we show that protein expression of inducible cAMP early repressor (ICER), an endogenous inhibitor of CRE-mediated transcription, is induced by stimulation of isoproterenol (ISO), a beta-adrenergic agonist with a peak at approximately 12 hours and persisting for more than 24 hours in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. ICER is also upregulated by phenylephrine but not by endothelin-1. Continuous infusion of ISO also increased ICER in the rat heart in vivo. Overexpression of ICER significantly attenuated ISO- and phenylephrine-induced cardiac hypertrophy but did not inhibit endothelin-1-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Overexpression of ICER also stimulated cardiac myocyte apoptosis. Antisense inhibition of ICER significantly enhanced beta-adrenergic hypertrophy, whereas it significantly inhibited beta-adrenergic cardiac myocyte apoptosis, suggesting that endogenous ICER works as an important regulator of cardiac hypertrophy and apoptosis. Inhibition of CRE-mediated transcription by dominant-negative CRE binding protein inhibited cardiac hypertrophy, whereas it stimulated cardiac myocyte apoptosis, thereby mimicking the effect of ICER. Both ISO and ICER reduced expression of Bcl-2, an antiapoptotic molecule, whereas antisense ICER prevented ISO-induced downregulation of Bcl-2. These results suggest that ICER is upregulated by cardiac hypertrophic stimuli increasing CRE-mediated transcription in cardiac myocytes and acts as a negative regulator of hypertrophy and a positive mediator of apoptosis, in part through both inhibition of CRE-mediated transcription and downregulation of Bcl-2.

Adenoviridae↗

An angiotensin II type 1 receptor mutant lacking epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation does not induce angiotensin II-mediated cardiac hypertrophy.

We have shown previously that tyrosine 319 in a conserved YIPP motif in the C terminus of angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 receptors (AT(1)Rs) is essential for transactivation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in vitro. We hypothesized that the signaling mechanism mediated through the specific amino acid sequence in the G protein-coupled receptor plays an important role in mediating cardiac hypertrophy in vivo. Transgenic mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of wild-type AT(1)R (Tg-WT) and an AT(1)R with a mutation in the YIPP motif (Tg-Y319F) were studied. Tg-Y319F mice developed no significant cardiac hypertrophy, in contrast to the significant development of hypertrophy in Tg-WT mice. Expression of fetal-type genes, such as atrial natriuretic factor, was also significantly lower in Tg-Y319F than in Tg-WT mice. Infusion of Ang II caused an enhancement of hypertrophy in Tg-WT mice but failed to induce hypertrophy in Tg-Y319F mice. Left ventricular myocardium in Tg-Y319F mice developed significantly less apoptosis and fibrosis than that in Tg-WT mice. EGFR phosphorylation was significantly inhibited in Tg-Y319F mice, confirming that EGFR was not activated in Tg-Y319F mouse hearts. In contrast, activation/phosphorylation of protein kinase C, STAT3, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and Akt and translocation of Galphaq/11 to the cytosolic fraction were maintained in Tg-Y319F hearts. Furthermore, a genetic cross between Tg-WT and transgenic mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of dominant negative EGFR mimicked the phenotype of Tg-Y319F mice. In conclusion, overexpression of AT(1)-Y319F in cardiac myocytes diminished EGFR transactivation and inhibited a pathological form of cardiac hypertrophy. The YIPP motif in the AT(1)R plays an important role in mediating cardiac hypertrophy in vivo.

Angiotensin II↗

Synthesis and degradation of myocardial protein during the development and regression of thyroxine-induced cardiac hypertrophy in rats.

Cardiac hypertrophy was induced in rats by daily injections of L-thyroxine (1.0 mg/kg). Regression from hypertrophy was studied 4 days after discontinuing thyroxine. Isolated, Langendorff-perfused hearts were perfused with Krebs-Henseleit buffer, glucose, insulin, and amino acids. To measure protein synthesis, left ventricular tissue was assayed for incorporation of tritiated phenylalanine into protein. Indices of rates of protein degradation were obtained by measuring the release of cold phenylalanine after blocking protein synthesis with cycloheximide. After 3 days of thyroxine (when cardiac growth was maximally increased), the rate of protein synthesis increased by 22% (P less than 0.001). After 1 week, synthesis was 8% greater than control (P less than 0.05), and by 2 weeks (when hypertrophy was stable and the rate of cardiac growth was similar to controls), synthesis had returned to control levels. In hearts regressing from hypertrophy, synthesis was reduced to 68% of control (P less than 0.001). The rate of protein degradation was decreased by 12% (P less than 0.05) after 3 days of thyroxine, but was not different from control at 1 or 2 weeks. During regression, degradation was 12% below control (P less than 0.05). Changes in the release of several amino acids that are synthesized or metabolized in heart (e.g., alanine, glycine, serine) were different from changes in phenylalanine release. In conclusion thyroxine-induced cardiac hypertrophy and regression are accompanied by changes in protein synthesis and degradation, and amino acid metabolism. The predominant change in hypertrophy is increased protein synthesis with a minor contribution from reduced degradation. Regression of hypertrophy is accompanied by decreased synthesis, not increased degradation.

Amino Acids↗

Afterpotentials and triggered activity in hypertrophied myocardium from rats with renal hypertension.

We have found that afterpotentials can be induced selectively in hypertrophied myocardium from rats with renal hypertension. Three kinds of afterpotentials were recorded by standard microelectrode techniques: early afterdepolarizations, delayed afterdepolarizations, and early afterdepolarizations. The first two kinds of afterpotentials could give rise to triggered spontaneous activity, whereas the last kind did not. Delayed afterdepolarizations were induced in hypertrophied fibers exposed to Tyrode's solution containing high extracellular calcium ([Ca2+]o = 7.2-12 mM) and early afterdepolarizations occurred in hypertrophied fibers exposed to Tyrode's solution containing tetraethylammonium (TEA = 10-30 mM). Neither of these treatments produced afterpotentials in normal myocardium. We found that delayed afterdepolarizations became larger when the stimulation frequency, number of preceding driven beats, or [Ca2+]o was increased. The coupling interval from the upstroke of the last driven action potential to the peak of the delayed afterdepolarization decreased when the stimulation frequency or number of preceding driven beats increased. Hypertrophied fibers treated with high [Ca2+]o that gave rise to triggered activity showed a characteristic relationship between delayed afterpotential magnitude and drive cycle length. In hypertrophied muscles treated with TEA, triggered activity developed from an early afterdepolarizations but terminated with a delayed afterdepolarization. The occurrence of afterpotentials in hypertrophied, but not in normal myocardium, appears to reflect the development of an important electrophysiological alteration that may predispose hypertrophied fibers to develop arrhythmias.

Action Potentials↗

Myocyte hypertrophy in neonatal rat heart cultures and its regulation by serum and by catecholamines.

The role of hormones and other humoral factors in the regulation of myocardial hypertrophy has been difficult to evaluate. We asked whether myocardial cell hypertrophy could be demonstrated in cultures from the day-old rat ventricle and evaluated the effect of serum concentration and catecholamines on the growth process. Two single-cell preparations were used: serum-supplemented, bromodeoxyuridine-treated cultures and serum-free cultures with transferrin and insulin. Both preparations were characterized by myocardial cell predominance (about 75--80% of total cells) and constant cell numbers. Myocardial cell size was documented by photomicroscopy and quantified by volume (microscopic diameter of suspended cells), surface area (planimetry of attached cells), and total cell protein concentration (Lowry method and cell counts). Growth was also evaluated in pure nonmyocardial cell cultures. In cultures with 5% (vol/vol) serum, myocardial cell size increased 2- to 3-fold over 11 days in culture. Final volume, surface area, and protein concentration were about 3000 micrometer3/cell, 5000 micrometer2/cell, and 1500 pg/cell, respectively. Serum had a dose-related effect on myocardial cell hypertrophy; myocardial cell size increased about 4-fold when serum concentration was increased from 0% to 5% or 10%. Cells maintained in serum-free medium with transferrin and insulin (each 10 microgram/ml) did not hypertrophy, but did remain responsive to the growth-promoting activity of serum. Chronic exposure to isoproterenol or norepinephrine (1 microM) significantly stimulated myocardial cell hypertrophy. This stimulation was dose-related, was not blocked by equimolar propranolol, was not associated with a sustained chronotropic effect, and was more pronounced in the serum-free preparation. In pure cultures of nonproliferating (bromodeoxyuridine-treated) nonmyocardial cells, cell size also increased with time in culture, but variation in serum concentration and addition of norepinephrine had no significant effect on cell size. Myocardial cell hypertrophy occurs in culture and is regulated by variations in the culture medium, including serum, with its contained hormones and growth factors, and catecholamines. The culture preparation can be used to explore the regulation of myocardial cell hypertrophy by nonhemodynamic factors.

Animals↗

Differential effects of antihypertensive drug therapy on vascular smooth muscle cell hypertrophy, hyperploidy, and hyperplasia in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

The present report extends our previous studies of smooth muscle cell hypertrophy, hyperploidy, and hyperplasia in the 5-month-old spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto rats to include analyses of 3- and 7-month-old rats and explores the effects of antihypertensive drug treatment on the accelerated growth of vascular smooth muscle in aortas of spontaneously hypertensive vs. Wistar-Kyoto rats. Drug-treated rats were administered a combination of reserpine, hydralazine, and chlorathiazide in their drinking water, either between 3 and 5 months or between 5 and 7 months of age. Drug treatment decreased the blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats to values at or below those of Wistar-Kyoto rats for both age-treatment groups. Smooth muscle growth was evaluated by morphometric analyses of aortic smooth muscle content, flow cytometric and microdensitometric measurements of the frequency of polyploid smooth muscle cells, biochemical estimates of aortic medial smooth muscle cell number, and microdensitometric measurements of individual smooth muscle cell protein content. The following results were obtained. Aortic medial smooth muscle content was not significantly increased in 3-month spontaneously hypertensive compared to Wistar-Kyoto rats, indicating that aortic smooth muscle hypertrophy occurred post-3 months, as well as after blood pressure was elevated. In 5-month-old spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto rats, medial smooth muscle hypertrophy could be accounted for by cellular hypertrophy without hyperplasia; in contrast, medial hypertrophy in 7-month-old spontaneously hypertensive rats involved both cellular hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Antihypertensive treatment prevented the accelerated growth of vascular smooth muscle that occurred in spontaneously hypertensive rats via cellular hypertrophy and hyperploidy, but it did not prevent an increase in smooth muscle cell number in spontaneously hypertensive rats between 5 and 7 months of age. Furthermore, it had no effect on the parallel increases in aortic medial smooth muscle cell number that occurred in both spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto rats between 3 and 5 months of age. Whereas drug treatment prevented accelerated development of smooth muscle cell polyploidism in spontaneously hypertensive rats, in no case (spontaneously hypertensive or Wistar-Kyoto rats) did it reverse changes in ploidy that existed at the time of initiation of drug treatment, although it did cause cellular atrophy in smooth muscle cells of each ploidy class.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Age Factors↗

Major alterations in relaxation during cardiac hypertrophy induced by aortic stenosis in guinea pig.

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was produced in guinea pigs after aortic stenosis (AS). The percentage of LVH in AS was determined by normalizing left ventricular (LV) weight by the mean LV weight of sham-operated controls (n = 12). After 3 weeks of cardiac overload, a mild LVH (30 +/- 3%) was induced in 17 animals and a relatively severe LVH (56 +/- 3%) was induced in 7 animals. LV papillary muscles were rapidly excised for mechanical studies. No significant differences were observed between control and mild hypertrophy groups. In contrast, a marked decrease in myocardial performance was seen in the more severe cardiac hypertrophy group and was expressed as a percentage of sham-operated levels (Vmax, 22%; active isometric force/mm2, 23%; +dF/dt max/mm2, 26%). Relaxation in this group was still more impaired than contraction (peak lengthening velocity, 14%; -dF/dt max/mm2, 19%). Moreover, the load sensitivity of relaxation was present in both sham-operated controls and mild hypertrophy but almost disappeared in more severe hypertrophy. Isometric relaxation was delayed in the latter group, as shown by the 15% increase of the half-time of the decline of isometric relaxation (t 1/2). On the other hand, acute hypoxia (95% N2-5% CO2 for 20 minutes) also induced a fall in contractility and the disappearance of the load sensitivity of relaxation but with a 67% decrease of t 1/2. Thus, the mechanical analysis of relaxation allows the effects of chronic overload in relatively severe cardiac hypertrophy to be separated from those of acute hypoxia. Moreover, in severe cardiac hypertrophy, the impairment of the load sensitivity of relaxation with increased t 1/2 strongly suggests alterations of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, especially since the moderate decrease in the myofibrillar ATPase activity, which has been observed previously in guinea pig pressure overload, cannot account completely for the marked fall in myocardial performance.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Increase in cross-linking of type I and type III collagens associated with volume-overload hypertrophy.

Types I, III, IV, and V collagen were isolated and characterized from eight normal dog hearts and seven with volume-overload hypertrophy. Animals with volume-overload hypertrophy were killed at a time when left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and stiffness were increased. The collagens were characterized by solubility properties, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The percentage of collagen obtained from canine left ventricles was decreased from 32.4% in normal hearts to 15.0% in hypertrophied hearts. We attribute this to a diminution in the extractability of types I and III collagen, which fell from 199.5 mg type I/g collagen and 76.4 mg type III/g collagen in normal hearts to 83.5 mg type I/g collagen and 26.4 mg type III/g collagen in hypertrophied hearts. The amount of types IV and V collagen isolated remained constant in both the control and arteriovenous shunt hearts averaging 15.7 mg type IV/g collagen and 32.1 mg type V/g collagen in control hearts and 12.5 mg type IV/g collagen and 28.9 mg type V/g collagen in hypertrophied hearts. The reduction in quantity of types I and III collagen probably reflects a greater degree of cross-linking in these two types of collagen. Cyanogen bromide peptide analysis confirmed that there was an increase of high molecular weight cross-linked peptides from 3.96% in normal samples to 8.88% in hypertrophied samples. We conclude that cross-linking of types I and III collagen increases in volume-overload hypertrophy and that this is associated with a rise in diastolic stiffness.

Animals↗

Differential effects of cardiac hypertrophy and failure on right versus left ventricular calcium activation.

We studied calcium responsiveness of skinned muscle preparations from the right and left ventricles of rats with cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac hypertrophy plus failure. To test the hypothesis that differences in contractile function are due to changes in myofilament calcium responsiveness, we compared preparations from spontaneously hypertensive rats with cardiac failure, spontaneously hypertensive rats without cardiac failure, and age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto control rats 18-24 months of age. Rats with failure had pleural/pericardial effusions, left atrial thrombi, and right and left ventricular hypertrophy. Muscles were skinned by saponin (250 micrograms/ml) and activated with a series of calcium buffers. Data were plotted as pCa (-log[Ca2+]) versus isometric force and then fit to a modified Hill equation. Values for 50% maximal activation (calcium sensitivity), maximal calcium-activated force, and the slope of the calcium-force relation were compared. Our data indicate that with the development of hypertrophy, calcium sensitivity of left ventricular muscles remains unaffected, but maximal calcium-activated force is increased. In contrast, maximal calcium-activated force declines toward control levels with the development of left ventricular failure, despite the continued presence of significant hypertrophy. In the normotensive rats, the left ventricle is more sensitive to calcium than the right ventricle (pCa50 = 6.0 +/- 0.05 versus 5.7 +/- 0.09; p less than 0.05); however, both the calcium sensitivity and maximal calcium-activated force of the right ventricle increase with the development of compensatory hypertrophy secondary to left ventricular failure. These changes that occur in rats with cardiac hypertrophy and failure may represent important physiological adaptive mechanisms.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗

Regional changes in creatine kinase and myocyte size in hypertensive and nonhypertensive cardiac hypertrophy.

Several intracellular enzymes have been shown to have altered total activity or isoenzyme composition in cardiac hypertrophy. This study tests the hypothesis that the accumulation of the fetal-type (BB + MB) creatine kinase (CK) isoenzymes in hypertrophied adult myocardium is related to an increase in blood pressure. Consideration was made for the location, size, and hemodynamic load of the myocytes. By using the two-kidney, one-clip (2K1C) rat model of renal hypertension with and without hydralazine treatment, CK (total and isoenzyme), lactate dehydrogenase, and citrate synthase activities and myocyte size were measured. An increased heart weight/body weight ratio occurred in both untreated 2K1C rats (4.15 +/- 0.09) and hydralazine-treated 2K1C rats (4.12 +/- 0.13) as compared with control rats (3.25 +/- 0.10). Blood pressure was high only in untreated 2K1C rats (196 +/- 9 mm Hg), as compared with hydralazine-treated 2K1C rats (142 +/- 6 mm Hg) and control rats (135 +/- 3 mm Hg). Myocytes were isolated from five ventricular regions: left ventricular epicardial and endocardial free wall, left and right halves of the interventricular septum, and right ventricular free wall. Regional differences in normal and hypertrophied myocardium were demonstrated for morphological and biochemical parameters, with the greatest changes occurring in left ventricular endocardium. The shift in CK isoenzyme expression toward accumulating more BB + MB was greater in "hypertensive hypertrophy" (untreated 2K1C rats) than in "nonhypertensive hypertrophy" (hydralazine-treated 2K1C rats). Calculations incorporating isolated myocyte volume showed that the cellular content of total CK remained the same during the hypertrophic process, accounting for a decrease in the tissue activity. Measurement of lactate dehydrogenase and citrate synthase activities suggests that hypertrophied myocardium has relatively higher glycolytic capacity and that this effect is exacerbated in the presence of high blood pressure. We conclude that increased blood pressure is more closely linked to the fetal CK isoenzyme shift than is hypertrophy alone.

Animals↗

Endothelin-1 and angiotensin II receptors in cells from rat hypertrophied heart. Receptor regulation and intracellular Ca2+ modulation.

This study investigates the cellular localization and regulation of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and angiotensin II (Ang II) receptors and the effects of ET-1 and Ang II on [Ca2+]i in cardiac hypertrophy due to volume overload in the rat. Radioligand binding assays and [Ca2+]i measurements by fura 2 methodology were performed on isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts from the heart of rats with a 4-week aortocaval shunt. In the hypertrophied myocardium, ET-1 and Ang II concentrations were unchanged in ventricles. Ventricular ET-1 receptors had a cell-specific distribution: > 90% of ET receptors in cardiomyocytes are of the ETA subtype, whereas fibroblasts had a nearly equal proportion of the ETA and ETB subtypes. ET-1 receptor densities, affinities, and ET-1-induced [Ca2+]i were not significantly different from control in both ventricular cell types from hypertrophied myocardium. Ang II specific binding was very low on isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes, suggesting few receptors in control conditions. However, [Ca2+]i responses induced by Ang II at concentrations > 10(-8) mol/L were detectable and were significantly higher in hypertrophied cardiomyocytes. Ang II receptor density (exclusively AT1) on fibroblasts was significantly reduced (42,970 +/- 3330 versus 73,870 +/- 7940 sites per cell for control cells, P < .01), but AT1 receptor affinity was unchanged after volume overload. The maximum increase in [Ca2+]i evoked by 10(-6) to 10(-4) mol/L Ang II was significantly lower in fibroblasts from overloaded hearts. In conclusion, ET-1 receptor proportion is cell specific, with cardiomyocytes possessing predominantly the ETA subtype and fibroblasts possessing both ETA and ETB receptors. Plasma and cardiac ET-1 concentrations and ET-1 receptor regulation on both ventricular cell types are not altered in cardiac volume overload, suggesting that cardiac ET-1 may not play a significant role in this model. Cardiac hypertrophy induced a significant downregulation of AT1 receptors on fibroblasts, whereas total binding and [Ca2+]i sensitivity to Ang II were significantly enhanced in hypertrophied cardiomyocytes. This suggests that cardiac Ang II may be involved in the pathophysiology of the cardiac hypertrophy of volume overload.

Angiotensin II↗

Cytoskeletal mechanics in pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy.

We have shown that the cellular contractile dysfunction characteristic of pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy results not from an abnormality intrinsic to the myofilament portion of the cardiocyte cytoskeleton but rather from an increased density of the microtubule component of the extramyofilament portion of the cardiocyte cytoskeleton. To determine how, in physical terms, this increased microtubule density mechanically overloads the contractile apparatus at the cellular level, we measured cytoskeletal stiffness and apparent viscosity in isolated cardiocytes via magnetic twisting cytometry, a technique by which magnetically induced force is applied directly to the cytoskeleton through integrin-coupled ferromagnetic beads coated with Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide. Measurements were made in two groups of cardiocytes from cats with right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy induced by pulmonary artery banding: (1) those from the pressure-overloaded RV and (2) those from the normally loaded same-animal control left ventricle (LV). Cytoskeletal stiffness increased almost twofold, from 8.53 +/- 0.77 dyne/cm2 in the normally loaded LV cardiocytes to 16.46 +/- 1.32 dyne/cm2 in the hypertrophied RV cardiocytes. Cytoskeletal apparent viscosity increased almost fourfold, from 20.97 +/- 1.92 poise in the normally loaded LV cardiocytes to 87.85 +/- 6.95 poise in the hypertrophied RV cardiocytes. In addition to these baseline data showing differing stiffness and, especially, apparent viscosity in the two groups of cardiocytes, microtubule depolymerization by colchicine was found to return both the stiffness and the apparent viscosity of the pressure overload-hypertrophied RV cells fully to normal. Conversely, microtubule hyperpolymerization by taxol increased the stiffness and apparent viscosity values of normally loaded LV cardiocytes to the abnormal values given above for pressure-hypertrophied RV cardiocytes. Thus, increased microtubule density constitutes primarily a viscous load on the cardiocyte contractile apparatus in pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy.

Animals↗

Contribution of glycogen and exogenous glucose to glucose metabolism during ischemia in the hypertrophied rat heart.

Although hypertrophied hearts have increased rates of glycolysis under aerobic conditions, it is controversial as to whether glucose metabolism during ischemia is altered in the hypertrophied heart. Because endogenous glycogen stores are a key source of glucose during ischemia, we developed a protocol to label the glycogen pool in hearts with either [3H]glucose or [14C]glucose, allowing for direct measurement of both glycogen and exogenous glucose metabolism during ischemia. Cardiac hypertrophy was produced in rats by banding the abdominal aorta for an 8-week period. Isolated hearts from aortic-banded and sham-operated rats were initially perfused under substrate-free conditions to decrease glycogen content to 40% of the initial pool size. Resynthesis and radiolabeling of the glycogen pool with [3H]glucose or [14C]glucose were accomplished in working hearts by perfusion for a 60-minute period with 11 mmol/L [3H]glucose or [14C]glucose, 0.5 mmol/L lactate, 1.2 mmol/L palmitate, and 100 mumol/mL insulin. Although glycolytic rates during the aerobic perfusion were significantly greater in hypertrophied hearts compared with control hearts, glycolytic rates from exogenous glucose were not different during low-flow ischemia. The contribution of glucose from glycogen was also not different in hypertrophied hearts compared with control hearts during ischemia (1314 +/- 665 versus 776 +/- 310 nmol.min-1.g dry wt-1, respectively). Glucose oxidation rates decreased during ischemia but were not different between the two groups. However, in both hypertrophied and control hearts, the ratio of glucose oxidation to glycolysis was greater for glucose originating from glycogen than from exogenous glucose. Our data demonstrate that glycogen is a significant source of glucose during low-flow ischemia, but the data do not differ between hypertrophied and control hearts.

Animals↗