title: The influence of decreased left-ventricular afterload on cardiac morphology in hypertrophied rat hearts.
abstract: The influence of afterload reduction on cardiac morphology was investigated in Goldblatt rats (hypertensive Wistar rats) with left-ventricular hypertrophy. The measurements were performed on a modified heart-lung preparation in which left-ventricular afterload was reduced either 0%, 15%-30% or 35%-50%. Goldblatt rats without heart-lung preparation served as control group. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of decreased left-ventricular afterload on the myocardial morphology. The hearts were prepared for light and electron microscopy. For ultrastructural investigations, we developed a mitochondrial alteration score and graded the myocytes according to the degree of ischemic injury. The changes ranged from score 0 (normal) to score 4 (most severe). The mean score of the group with marked afterload reduction (35%-50%) was significantly increased compared to all other groups. Our data suggest that marked afterload reduction has a negative impact on the myocardial ultrastructure in hypertension-induced left-ventricular hypertrophy. Light microscopically, we found a correlation between myocardial cell diameter and blood pressure and a significant difference in arterial wall thickness between normotensive and hypertensive rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Technical University of Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D006978:Hypertension, Renovascular / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008929:Mitochondria, Heart / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008933:Mitochondrial Swelling; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000473:pathology; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left