Aminoacyl-tRNA-synthetases and their high molecular weight complexes in experimental myocardial ischemia

A number of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases from rabbit liver during experimental myocardial infarction and from pig myocardium upon 15-min of autolysis were found to increase their activity in aminoacylation. Direct correlations between the activities of high molecular weight complexes and of the total extracts were not observed. It was shown that the specific activity of endogenous inorganic pyrophosphatase increased markedly during the ischemia of myocardium both in total myocardium extracts and in high molecular weight complexes.     

Effect of enkephalins on vasopressin and aldosterone levels in acute experimental myocardial ischemia

It has been demonstrated in experiments on rats that acute myocardial ischemia gives rise to a decrease in diuresis, elevation of antidiuretic activity of blood plasma and the blood concentration of immunoreactive aldosterone. Intraperitoneal injection of a synthetic enkephalin analog D-ala2-leu5-arg6-enkephalin in a dose of 1.25 nmol/kg bw resulted in partial normalization of diuresis, reduction in antidiuretic activity of blood plasma and blood aldosterone level to the control values. Naloxone eliminated the effects described. It is concluded that enkephalins have an inhibitory action on aldosterone and vasopressin secretion, with this action being mediated via opiate receptors.     

The influence of intracerebroventricular administration of (+/-) propranolol and (+/-) verapamil on experimental myocardial ischemia and necrosis in rats

In albino rats, infarctoid myocardial lesions were produced by intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of isoproterenol (75 mg/kg, during 3 days). In other groups, the descending anterior left coronary artery was ligated. In both experimental settings, the intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of (+/-) propranolol (100-200-300 microg/animal/day, during 7 days) or (+/-) verapamil (40-80-160 microg/animal/day, during 7 days) afforded a significant protection (with the exception of the lowest dose) on the investigated parameters: arrhythmias, ischemic zone (in coronary ligated rats), lactate dehydrogenase and aspartate aminotransferase activity of the serum, focal necrosis (in isoproterenol treated rats). This protective activity is lower than that afforded by i.p. administered (+/-) propranolol (5 mg/kg, during seven days) or (+/-) verapamil (5 mg/kg, during seven days). From these data it may be concluded that (+/-) propranolol and (+/-) verapamil have a protective action on the experimental myocardial ischemia and necrosis in rats, not only when the drugs come in direct contact with the heart, but also acting upon the central nervous system.     

The mechanism of the action of dalargin in experimental myocardial ischemia]

In acute experiments on cats it has been shown that dalargin possess antiarrhythmic affect in myocardial ischemia. Antiarrythmic effect of dalagrig may be connected both with reflex and with direct action of dalargin on neurons structure, which     

Morphofunctional characteristics of the myocardium and regional lymph nodes of the heart in experimental myocardial ischemia under the effect of radon water on the body

A positive effect of radon baths (health resort "Belokurikha") has been stated on the course of restorative processes in the myocardium and regional lymph nodes of the heart at ischemic disease. An enhanced drainage activity of the lymph nodes revealed facilitates to a quick outflow of toxic lymph from the ischemic zone and, accordingly, to its biological treatment in the lymph nodes and contributes to a more complete restoration of the structure in the ischemia-damaged area of the myocardium.     

Effect of parathyroidin on the course of acute myocardial ischemia in experiments on rats

Experiments were made on 187 white rats weighing 180-200 g. Acute myocardial ischemia was simulated in 137 animals. Fifty sham-operated rats served as control. Experimental acute myocardial ischemia was accompanied by an increase in blood creatine phosphokinase and lactate dehydrogenase activity as well as by an elevation of serum lactate level and fall of blood plasma calcium concentration, suppression of diuresis and excretion of calcium with urine. Intraperitoneal injections of parathyroidine to rats with acute myocardial ischemia led to rapid normalization of the homeostatic parameters. Lethality of experimental animals decreased 1.8-fold.     

Molecular friction in an actomyosin molecular machine

In muscle contraction, it has been widely recognized that a binding state exists between myosin and actin in the presence of Mg-ATP. To estimate the magnitude of binding strength, I introduce a concept of frictional phenomena which occurs between two sliding bodies in contact each other. In such cases, the sliding speed can be formulated as a function of the actin-myosin bond strength. In order to validate this, the present theory is applied for the two movement assay systems with no external load; one movement assay of Phalloidin Rhodamine bound F-actin on a myosin coated hydrophobic cover glass and another assay of myosin coated beads along actin cables of Nitella. If a coefficient of 0.005 is applied to the kinetic friction, 1pN for the sliding force per cross-bridge and 10 microns sec-1 for the sliding speed, it is found that the bond strength between actin and one myosin head is about 200 pN in the contracting state.     

Effect of chloroquine in experimental myocardial ischaemia

The cardiac effects of the phospholipase A2 inhibiting agent chloroquine were studied in dogs, rats and cats. During left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion produced in anaesthetized mongrel dog, chloroquine pretreatment considerably reduced the epicardial ST-segment elevation in the ischaemic area, as well as the number of premature ventricular contractions. In conscious male Sprague-Dawley CFY rats it diminished the duration and prolonged the latency of appearance of the early post-infarction arrhythmias and increased the survival rate following coronary artery ligation. Chloroquine failed to affect the ventricular fibrillation threshold in the normoxic cat heart. The cardioprotective action of chloroquine could be explained at least partly by its antiphospholipase activity.     

Effect of C-protein on actomyosin ATPase

The effect of C-protein on the actin-activated ATPase of column-purified skeletal muscle myosin has been investigated at varied ionic strength. At ionic strengths below about 0.1, C-protein is a potent inhibitor. The inhibition is not reversed by increasing the actin concentration, showing that it is caused by C-protein bound to the myosin filaments. When the ionic strength is raised above about 0.12, on the other hand, the inhibition vanishes and C-protein becomes a mild activator of the actomyosin ATPase. Both effects appear rapidly upon addition of C-protein to pre-formed myosin filaments, so C-protein probably acts by binding to the surface of the filaments.     

Effect of relaxin on myocardial ischemia injury induced by isoproterenol

The omnipresent 6-kDa polypeptide relaxin (RLX) is emerging as a multifunctional endocrine and paracrine factor in a broad range of target tissues including cardiovascular tissues. To explore the pathophysiological roles of RLX in ischemic cardiovascular diseases, we studied the changes in RLX mRNA level in the myocardium and the effect of RLX supplements in rats with isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial injury. In ISO-treated rats, RLX levels in myocardia and plasma increased 3.7- and 6.9-fold, respectively (P<0.01), the mRNA level increased significantly in myocardia compared with controls. Co-administration of RLX (0.2 and 2.0 microg/kg/d) and ISO increased left-ventricular pressure development and decreased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVDEP) (all P<0.01). Malondialdehyde content in myocardia and lactate dehydrogenase and creatine phosphokinase activities in plasma in RLX-treated rats decreased markedly compared with that in ISO-treated alone rats (P<0.01 or P<0.05). In the high-dose RLX group, fibroblastic hyperplasia was relieved in myocardia, hydroxyproline level was lower, by 33% (P<0.05), and endothelin content in plasma was lower, by 31% (P<0.01) than in the ISO-alone group. Compared with control group, any indexes in sham rats treated with high-dose RLX were unaltered (all P>0.05). These results showed an up-regulation of myocardial RLX during ISO-induced myocardial ischemia injury and the protective effect of RLX on ISO-induced cardiac inhibition and fibrosis, which suggests that RLX could be an endogenous cardioprotective factor in ischemic heart diseases.     

Distribution of neurospecific cardioactive protein-hormone complex in the rat body during experimental myocardial ischemia

For more than 25 years the chemistry and the function of the protein-hormonal complexes (produced by magnocellular nuclei of human and same animals) have been studied. The methods of radioimmunological analyses (RIA) for the detection of new neuropecific cardioactive protein-hormone "K" (RHK) in rat organism with myocardial ischemia has been developed. Concentration of PHK in various regions of the brain by RIA a four days after the occlusion of the carotid artery has a sharp decrease. Particularly concentration of PHK decreases 100-fold in the cerebral cortex. At the same time the level of PHK content in the blood increased from 13 +/- 0.85 to 630 +/- 3.9 ng/ml. The maximum concentration of PHK shows a sharp rise in the spleen 200-fold of their original level. This distribution pattern implies that PHK may be of importance for peripheral tissues and to the scarring in heart neurosis zone.     

Resistance of the myocardium to ischemia and efficacy of myocardial preconditioning in experimental diabetes mellitus

Data on myocardial tolerance of ischemia in the animals with experimental diabetes are controversial. In our study, myocardial sensitivity to ischemia and infarction-limiting effect of ischemic preconditioning have been investigated in the in vivo rat model of myocardial infarction in alloxan-induced insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. It has been shown that in 6 weeks after alloxan injection in the diabetic rats infarction size as determined by TTC staining was significantly smaller than in healthy controls (39.8 +/- 8.8 and 62.3 +/- 6.6%, respectively, p < 0.01). Also, occurrence of ischemic tachyarrhythmias was more rare in diabetic rats than in controls. A single episode of ischemic preconditioning in diabetic rats showed a much lesser protection against infarction than in controls. Therefore, the data obtained support the existence of endogenous protective myocardial phenotype in diabetes, although the effectiveness of ischemic preconditioning in diabetes is reduced.     

Immunohistochemical change of actin in experimental myocardial ischemia. Its usefulness to detect very early myocardial damages

Pathomorphological diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction has many problems in human autopsy materials less than 4 to 6 hours after clinical onset and in rats 2 to 3 hours after experimental coronary occlusion. Since immunohistochemical reaction depends on the antigen determinant site of the material, changes in the reaction may reflect alterations at the molecular level in myocardial fibers. With this consideration in mind, the effectiveness of diagnosing infarction at the earliest (possible) stage, and the changes of actin filaments were investigated through experiments, using immunohistochemical methods involving anti-actin antibodies produced from chicken gizzards in our laboratory. The left coronary arteries of rats were ligated to produce ischemia. Dehydrogenases were shown to be still present by triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) reaction, but the anti-actin antibody reaction had disappeared in areas corresponding to the ischemic sites. However, on electron microscopic examination of these sites, actin fibers were clearly revealed. In the case of ischemia lasting for more than 6 hours, the anti-actin antibody reaction had disappeared, corresponding to the disappearance of the TTC reaction. At this stage, myocardial actin fibers were revealed by electron microscopic examination. These results indicate that ischemia induces some type of biochemical degeneration at the molecular level of myocardial actin, most likely the change of actin polymerization. Moreover, they show that the anti-actin antibody technique is capable of detecting such very early degenerative and ischemic changes proving itself to be better suited for determining the range and degree of early infarction.     

Study of blood and lymph in experimental myocardial ischemia and arterial hypertension]

The peripheral blood and central lymph of rats under experimental myocardial infarction was studied by means of light microscopy and electric conductivity measurement. Both hypertensive rats and animals 3 days after myocardial infarction had similar quantity of neutrophils in peripheral blood. Lymph cells count of hypertensive rats by middle lymphocytes is similar to the animals 1 day after myocardial infarction. The correlation between lymph and blood electric conductivity and its cell composition was noted.