The continuous and simultaneous measurement of O2-consumption, rate of decarboxylation of 14C-substrates and the performance of spontaneously-beating isolated heart atria of guinea pigs

Cardiac energetics: significance of mitochondria

The mitochondrial activity as the energy producing step during biological oxidation was observed at rest and its regulation by the energy consuming auxotonic contractile work, depending on the preload, afterload and beat rate in isolated superfused left guinea pig atria. The mitochondrial activity was measured by (1) continuous determination of the O2 uptake rate, (2) the rate of 14CO2 production from labelled glucose or FFA and (3) separate measurements of the atrial ATP-, ADP-, AMP-, CP- and NAD-concentrations, for determination of the energy state. Some results, with points of general interest, are reported and discussed, including this model, former studies about cardiac energetics and the efficiency of cardiac work, reviewed recently.

Some problems of cardiac energetics

Special problems of the aerobic metabolism in the cardiac muscle cell as an energy producing and energy consuming system are discussed and demonstrated with some experimental results using superfused resting and working guinea-pig atria as an energetic model: 1. Influence on resting O2 uptake: a) Free fatty acids (FFA) increase the O2 uptake rate to approximately 20% compared with glucose oxidation. This can be explained as a compensating effect due to the 9.7% lower combustion value for 1 mol O2 of C16-FFA and the 10.7% lower P/O-ratio related to glucose oxidation. b) K+-depolarization increases the O2 uptake b.1. between 15 and 65 mmol/l KCl from 110 to 200% without activation of the actomyosin system. This effect is Ca++ dependent and is not observed in Ca++ free solution and can be inhibited completely by nifedipine. The enhanced O2 uptake rate due to K+-depolarization is not connected with an improved state of the energy quotient (ATP/ADP+AMP) indicating a lowering of the energy coupling. b.2. between 100 and 250 mmol/l KCl from 220 to approximately 350%, not influenced by nifedipine and connected with activation of the actomyosin system at low Na+ and/or high external Ca++ (contracture). 2. Stretching of resting atria up to 10 mN tension does not increase the O2 uptake rate. The 'Feng' effect could not be confirmed. 3. a) The 'Frank-Starling' effect can be observed between 2.5 and 10 mN preload with increase of contractile work/beat connected with an enhancement of O2 uptake rate to a lower percentage. At the maximum of the 'Frank-Starling' effect the highest efficiency of contractile work can be observed. With increasing beat rate this maximum is shifted to a lower preload. b) The auxotonic contractile work measured by a calibrated spring blade allows the calculation of the 'internal work' and the 'external contractile work'/beat in mm X mN. The total energy of the activated actomyosin system (total work) is stored by the displacement of the spring blade due to the constant of the spring blade, the preload (tension) and the afterload (force). The 'internal work' will be transformed into ATP dependent heat and force equal to the preload tension. The same ATP dependent energy from O2 uptake is transformed at the same beat rate and the same preload a) with the isometric type of auxotonic contraction into high force and very low internal and low external work.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Some aspects on the regulation of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in cardiac tissue

FFA are the main substrate of biological oxidation in cardiac muscle under normal conditions. But it could be shown in man and animal that during heavy exercise there is a shift to preferential oxidation of lactate. During oxygen deficiency in hypoxic or ischemic situations which may occur lightly in distinct areas of hypertrophic hearts after exercise, lactate, alpha-glycerol phosphate and acyl-CoA as well as triglyceride levels in cardiac tissue may increase, whereas FFA are less oxidized. Unoxidized intracellular FFA and acyl-CoA, which are not esterified in a sufficient way to triglycerides, may impair oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria, the P/O quotient as well as cardiac function perhaps by an interference with Ca++ movements during the contraction cycle. With the examples of anoxia and complete ischemia as the two extreme situations of O2 deficiency some principles of the alteration of cardiac metabolism are pointed out, and furthermore attempts to improve anoxic tolerance of cardiac tissue.

Synthesis and degradation of NAD in guinea pig cardiac muscle: I. Dependence upon the extracellular concentration of nicotinamide and nicotinic acid

The NAD concentration as well as the 14C-incorporation in NAD and the disappearance of 14C-NAD were studied in spontaneously beating atria of guinea pigs at high and low concentrations of the precursors nicotinamide or nicotinic acid. Atria were incubated in Krebs-Henseleit solution containing 15 mM glucose and the appropriate precursors at 30 degrees C. The control NAD concentration (33 nMol/100 mg w.w.) remained unchanged during a 24-h-incubation time. -20 mM 14C-nicotinamide increased the total NAD about three-fold (90 nMol/100 mg w.w.) after an incubation period of 24 h, with positive effects on the performance. The incorporation rate in 14C-NAD was calculated to be 43.7 nMol/100 mg w.w. . 24 h. The ADPR moiety for the NAD synthesis stemmed from an endogenous pool. Between 5 and 20 mM nicotinamide the increase in the NAD concentration followed an apparent Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a Km of 6.1 mM nicotinamide and a Vmax of 70.92 nMol NAD/100 mg w.w. . 24 h. This can be explained as a new synthesis of NAD by a high concentration of nictoinamide and also by a decreased degradation of NAD, due to inhibition of the glycohydrolase by the high concentration of nicotinamide. The ratio of incorporation and disappearance of 14C-NAD during the 8th and 16th h incubation period was 2:1. After pre-incubation with 20 mM nicotinamide for an 8-h period the NAD concentration decreased to normal values after incubation for 8 h in a nicotinamide free medium. -20 mM 14C-nicotinic acid did not change the total NAD level and no significant incorporation in 14C-NAD could be detected, whereas negative effects on the performance occurred. -10 muM 14C-nicotinamide showed a slight increase in the total NAD concentration (39.7 nMol/100 mg w.w.) and in the 14C-incorporation (4.8 nMol/100 mg w.w.) within 24 h. -10 muM 14C-nicotinic acid seemed here to be the better precursor in this concentration. The NAD concentration increased to 49.8 nMol/100 mg w.w. after a 16 h incubation period and the incorporation in 14C-NAD was 12.1 nMol/100 mg w.w. after an incubation time of 24 h. As consequences of the observed different influences of each precursor on NAD turnover and NAD concentration the pathways of NAD synthesis and degradation must be studied. The importance of an increased NAD level for the energy metabolism of the cardiac muscle under aerobic and anaerobic conditions is discussed.

The opposed influences of beta-adrenergic stimulation and adenosine on the frequency-force relationship of isolated left atria of guinea-pigs

The normal frequency-force relationship of left guinea-pig atria can be largely suspended when strong beta-adrenergic stimulation by orciprenaline is antagonized by the negative inotropic effect of adenosine, so that contraction amplitude is nearly equal at an intermediate level over a wide range of stimulation rates. Curves obtained with new method for recording continuous frequency-force loops are presented.

Influences on the efficiency of cardiac work

The efficiency of cardiac work measured in isolated guinea pig atria can be influenced by change of the heart rate or the stroke work due to electric stimulation or drug actions: An increased cardiac performance caused by enhanced heart rate needs considerably more oxygen than an increase of the total cardiac work to the same degree due solely to a positive inotropic action. Oxidation of long and short chain fatty acids lowers the efficiency of cardiac work connected with negative inotropic effects. An increase of the heart rate is followed by a shift to the oxidation of carbohydrates, at rest to the oxidation of FFA. Long chain fatty acids are not sufficient for the increased demand of energy in the cardiac muscle at high heart rates and are then poorly oxidized. The problems connected with the Ca++ binding of FFA in the cardiac cytoplasm after inhibition of their oxidation well be discussed.

The effects of arachidonic acid in isolated atria of guinea pigs

The effects of free and albumin-bound arachidonic acid, which is the precursor of the prostaglandins E2 and F2alpha, were studied on the spontaneous rate, contractile force and myocardial fatty acid metabolism in isolated, spontaneously beating atria of guinea pigs. Both free and albumin-bound arachidonic acid (10(-6)-10(-3) M) produced a dose-dependent positive chronotropic and a modest inotropic action. Tachyphylaxis to the positive chronotropic action of arachidonic acid developed in the course of repeated applications. Beta-Adrenoceptor blockade (pincolol) and pretreatment with reserpine or prostaglandin-synthetase inhibitors (indomethacin, fenoprofen, aspirin, 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid) failed to affect the chronotropic activity of arachidonic acid significantly. The action of arachidonic acid was independent of the decarboxylation of the fatty acid. Linoleic and oleic acids did not show any positive chronotropic activity. The data are interpreted as suggesting that changes induced by arachidonic acid might be partly due to peroxides formed from arachidonic acid.

Effect of histamine H2-receptor and beta-receptor blockade on histamine-, orciprenaline- and prostaglandin-stimulated frequency of the isolated guinea-pig atrium

For the oxyntic cell of the stomach the hypothesis was forwarded by Grossmann and Konturek [1] that, if one of its three receptors is blocked, the physico-chemical properties of the two others are changed in such a way that they respond less sensitively to their specific stimulation. This hypothesis was tested for the heart by studying the effect of histamine-H2-receptor- and beta-receptor-blockade on the orciprenaline-, histamine-, and prostaglandin E1-stimulated frequency of the spontaneously beating isolated guinea-pig atrium. Therefore cumulative dose response curves were established for orciprenaline, histamine and prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) alone or in the presence of metiamide or pindolol. (1) The beta-blocker pindolol inhibited the effect of orciprenaline in a competitive manner, without having an effect on histamine- and PGE1-stimulation. (2) The histamine H2-receptor blocker metiamide inhibited the histamine response competitively. (3) In contrast to pindolol, metiamide inhibited the PGE1-stimulated rise in atrial frequency, most obviously non- or uncompetitively. From these results it is evident that in the heart the particular inhibitors, at least at the receptor site, act rather specifically without affecting neighbouring receptors and that metiamide influences the PGE1-response in a way different from the receptor site.