Correlations between the collagen content of the human left ventricular myocardium, measured by biochemical and morphometric methods.
OBJECTIVE
To assess, in myocardium specimens obtained from necropsies, the correlation between the concentration of hydroxyproline, measured with the photocolorimetric method, and the intensity of fibrosis, determined with the morphometric method.


METHODS
Left ventricle myocardium samples were obtained from 45 patients who had undergone necropsy, some of them with a variety of cardiopathies and others without any heart disease. The concentrations of hydroxyproline were determined with the photocolorimetric method. In the histologic sections from each heart, the myocardial fibrosis was quantified by using a light microscope with an integrating ocular lens.


RESULTS
A median of, respectively, 4.5 and 4.3 microgram of hydroxyproline/mg of dry weight was found in fixed and nonfixed left ventricle myocardium fragments. A positive correlation occurred between the hydroxyproline concentrations and the intensity of fibrosis, both in the fixed (Sr=+0.25; p=0.099) and in the nonfixed (Sr=+0.32; p=0.03) specimens.


CONCLUSIONS
The biochemical methodology was proven to be adequate, and manual morphometry was shown to have limitations that may interfere with the statistical significance of correlations for the estimate of fibrosis intensity in the human myocardium.
Lopes
José Duarte de Morais
JD
Faculdade de Medicina do Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, Brazil.
Gomes
Roseli Aparecida da Silva
RA
Hial
Valdemar
V
Lopes
Isabel Cristina Rezende
IC
Reis
Marlene Antônia dos
MA
Teixeira
Vicente de Paula Antunes
Vde P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002102:Cadaver; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis*; D003124:Colorimetry; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000473:pathology; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006909:Hydroxyproline / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology*; D010777:Photochemistry
D003094:Collagen; D006909:Hydroxyproline