title: Correlations between the collagen content of the human left ventricular myocardium, measured by biochemical and morphometric methods.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina do Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Duarte de Morais
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Roseli Aparecida da Silva
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: Valdemar
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hial
authors.forename: Isabel Cristina Rezende
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Marlene Antônia dos
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Vicente de Paula Antunes
authors.initials: Vde P
authors.lastname: Teixeira
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen; D006909:Hydroxyproline