| Abstract: | The study was performed on white inbred young (1 and 3 weeks old), sexually immature (1.5 months old), sexually mature (6 months old) and old (over 24 months old) male rats, who were subcutaneously administered noradrenaline at a dose of 2 mg/kg body weight. The degree of myocardial injury was assessed on frontal histotopographic heart sections stained by the method of Leigh and Regaud, obtained from dead and killed rats 6 hours after noradrenaline injection. The reaction of the adrenal cortical substance was investigated, using quantitative histofluorescent method. It has been shown that young rats have low sensitivity to catecholamine stress, with the sensitivity increasing by the period of sexual maturation and again decreasing in old animals. The animals' death is associated with higher degree of myocardial injury that accompanies a drastic increase in catecholamine secretion by the adrenals. |
