[Complex study of the rat heart at isoproterenol damage].

Introduction of isoproterenol (an agonist of beta-adrenoreceptors) to rats is one of the widespread experimental models of cardiac failure. It is caused by damage of cardiomyocytes with the subsequent development of substitutive fibrosis. The purpose of the given work was the complex characteristic of cardiac function by means of invasive and noninvasive (echocardiography and impedansometry) methods of research. Isoproterenol was injected twice with a daily interval in dozes 85, 120, 150 or 180 mg/kg. Echocardiographic study of the heart in 2 weeks revealed obvious attributes of cardiac failure (left ventricular dilatation, lowered ejection fraction) in the groups which have received high cumulative dozes of isoproterenol (300-360 mg/kg). The catheterization of the left ventricle in these groups has shown raised enddiastolic pressure, decreased maximal rate of pressure development and fall, and also lowered indices of myocardial contractility and relaxability. In the groups which have received smaller isoproterenol dozes, apparent decrease in relaxability parameters (constants of isovolumic and auxovolumic relaxation) has been revealed at only slightly changed parameters of contractility. A strong correlation between echocardiographic and invasive parameters of myocardial contractility has been found. The phase analysis of the cardiac cycle has shown a lengthening of isometric phases of contraction and relaxation, as well as duration of ejection due to shortening duration of filling of both ventricles. Cardiomyocytes isolated from hearts with obvious cardiac failure responded to electrostimulation by arrhythmic contractions and also by much slowed and incomplete removal of free Ca++ from the myoplasm. Results allow to conclude that relatively smaller extent of myocardial damage is accompanied by decreased relaxability at slightly changed contractility, while at greater degree of damage both processes fail, but delay of relaxation still prevails.

[Collagen fiber pathology in atherosclerotic plaques of the coronary arteries in ischemic heart disease].

Structure-metabolic changes of collagen fibers (CF) in atherosclerosis plaques of the coronary arteries in the conditions of ischemic heart disease (IHD) have been studied. Segments of the coronary arteries were received from 68 men after a coronary artery bypass grafting. CF was study with using of the Van Gieson's and the Masson's methods. Histologic slices were studied by polarization microscopy. The atherosclerosis plaques with IHD were notable for lipidosis of CF. We've suspected lipidosis of CF is a crucial factor for the development of atherosclerosis plaques instability. Evident lipidosis of CF was attended with destructive changes probably resulted in accumulation of atheromatous mass in atherosclerosis plaques.

[Morphometrical characteristic of atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries of humans with ischemic heart disease according to their instability index].

Morphometrical research of the atherosclerosis plaques (AP) instability and responsible for decreasing of their stability structure has been carried out by estimation of the instability index (II). II is a ratio between sum of destabilizing (lipids and macrophages) and stabilizing (collagen fibers and smooth muscular cells) AP structures. Segments of the coronary arteries were received from 45-65 years old man after a coronary artery bypass grafting. Histologic, histochemical and computer morphometric methods were used. II for every AP was estimated according to the formula introduced by M. Shiomi [22]. 3 types of AP instability degree were distinguished: stable (II < 1 for AP and AP's cover), conditionally stable (II > 1 for AP and II < 1 for AP's cover) and unstable (II > 1 for AP and AP's cover). Unstable APs were subdivided into potentially dangerous with disruption risk and really dangerous with integrity disorders (tears, disruptions, erosion, and necrosis). The potentially and really dangerous instability AP was more than in 50% of researched AP. Instability degree of AP depended on quantity of stabilizing structures, especially collagen fibers.

[Coronary artery necroses and calcification in chronic ischemic heart disease].

AIM: To study some particularly inadequately studied mechanisms for the development of coronary artery calcification (CAC), which are unassociated with calcified atheromatous masses of atherosclerotic plaques. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: . Endarterectomized coronary artery (CA) segments obtained during aortocoronary bypass surgery were pathomorphologically studied in 150 patients aged 49-72 years with coronary heart disease (CHD). CAC was found in 92% of cases. Two types of CAC were identified: one of them was associated with calcified atheromatous masses of atherosclerotic plaques; the other was related to necroses in the fibrous plaque parts. The atheromatous masses exhibited calcareous deposits as fine-grained masses of small extent. In chronic CHD, morphological signs of instability of atherosclerotic plaques were observed in 23.3% of cases, these being associated with lamellar CAC in two thirds. CONCLUSION: Calcification in the necrotic area of fibrous parts of stenotic plaques is typical of chronic CHD and is frequently attended by the development of large-focal calcareous deposits generally as laminas (lamellar calcification). Impaired transmural perfusion of plasma is noted to be involved in the development of necroses in stenotic CA atherosclerotic plaques.

[Features of atherosclerosis in the ascending human aorta and the link between its development and the main risk factors of ischemic heart disease in patients after aortocoronary shunting]. / Osobennosti ateroskleroza v voskhodiashchei aorte cheloveka i sviaz' ego razvitiia s osnovnymi faktorami riska ishemicheskoi bolezni serdtsa u bol'nykh, perenesshikh aortokoronarnoe shuntirovanie.

Atherosclerosis was found in all ascending aorta biopsies of 125 patients aged 42 to 65 years who underwent aortocoronary bypass surgery. Lipid spots only were found in 91.2% of cases, in 11 patients (8.8%) there were lipid plaques. Three main types of lipid spots were recognized: type I--primary extracellular lipoidosis (40.0%); type II--mainly intracellular lipoidosis (24.8%) and type III--cell lipoidosis with a pronounced component of secondary extracellular lipoidosis (26.4%). A specific feature of ascending aorta atherosclerosis is a frequent combination of intima lipoidosis with media lipoidosis: 92% in type I, 100% in type II and 93.9% in type III. This is probably an important way of lipid elimination from the intima and this predetermines a "mild" course of atherosclerosis in this part of the aorta. Types II and III of lipoidosis occurred more frequently in lipid metabolism disturbances and only under these conditions clusters of foam cells were observed. Arterial hypertension and smoking have a leading role in development of intimal hyperplasia. When assessing atherosclerosis activity in the operated patients not only risk factors of ischemic heart disease but also the results of aorta biopsies studies should be taken into consideration.

[The clinico-morphological aspects of primary pulmonary hypertension]. / Kliniko-morfologicheskie aspekty pervichnoi legochnoi gipertonii.

The authors relate the results of a clinical and post mortem examination of 12 patients who died for primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). The clinical, x-ray, echocardiography and electrocardiography data were of the same type in all the patients. Macroscopic studies of the heart also demonstrated similar changes: the heart mass was increased because of hypertrophy of its right parts. At the same time the microscopic picture of small vessels of the lungs turned out fairly diverse. Based on these differences all the cases were divided into 3 groups: veno-occlusive disease, recurrent pulmonary thromboembolism, plexogenic pulmonary arteriopathy. However, certain differences were noted inside the groups either. It is therefore assumed that PPH is a collective notion, uniting different alterations in small pulmonary vessels, that lead to a considerable rise of pressure in the pulmonary artery.

[The determination of ventricular myocardial mass by magnetic resonance tomography]. / Opredelenie massy miokarda zheludochkov metodom magnitnoi rezonansnoi tomografii.

MR-tomography (MRT) was used to investigate 10 isolated hearts from patients who died of various cardiovascular diseases. The purpose was to study the accuracy of MRT for determination of the myocardial mass (MM) of the left and right ventricles. MM was calculated using Simpson's method and the "area-length" formula. The first method demonstrated a high correlation of MRT results with autopsy findings with relation to the left, right ventricles and the interventricular septum (r = 0.98, 0.88, 0.85, respectively). The accuracy of the second method was also very high (r = 0.96 with relation to the left ventricle), however great scattering of MM values with relation to true values was noted. MRT can serve as a highly informative method in the evaluation of the ventricular MM and the time course of its changes.

[Enzyme utilization of lipid peroxides in arteriosclerotic human aorta]. / Fermentativnaia utilizatsiia lipoperoksidov v ateroskleroticheski porazhennoi aorte cheloveka.

Activities of glutathione-S-transferase and glutathione peroxidase have been studied in the intima and media of the human aorta with different degree of atherosclerotic injury. Pieces of the thoracic part of the aorta were taken 1-6 h after death from those who died due to cardiovascular system diseases. Activity of glutathione-S-transferase was shown to be lowered in the samples of intima and media from lipid-fibrous plaques in comparison with non-damaged intima and media. In view of significant role of glutathione-S-transferase in lipoperoxides detoxication a possible consequence of this loss enzyme capacities may be an accumulation of lipoperoxides in expressed atherosclerotic affections of vessel wall.

[Myocardial hypertrophy, arterial hypertension and sudden cardiac death]. / Gipertrofiia miokarda, arterial'naia gipertoniia i vnezapnaia serdechnaia smert'.

721 cases of sudden coronary death (SCD) of men aged 30-59 were studied. It was found out that SCD happened in majority of cases in subjects with increased weight of heart: 44.2% of patients had heart weight of 500 g or more. A special histomorphometric study of kidneys (345 cases of SCD) revealed arterial hypertension (AH) in 41.2% of cases, which far exceeded AH incidence in the population of men of equal age. Nevertheless, not in all cases of SCD was myocardial hypertrophy caused by AH. In patients with no AH myocardial hypertrophy was usually caused by postinfarction cardiosclerosis. In certain cases of SCD without cardiosclerosis accompanied by manifest myocardial hypertrophy there were signs of dilatative or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The obtained results suggest that AH and increased weight of heart should be considered factors predisposing to SCD.

[Histopathology of the myocardium in cases of sudden coronary death without myocardial infarct and postinfarct cardiosclerosis]. / Gistopatologiia miokarda v sluchaiakh vnezapnoi koronarnoi smerti bez infarkta miokarda i postinfarktnogo kardioskleroza.

231 cases of sudden coronary death of men aged 30-59 were studied; in 138 cases no focal cardiosclerosis of myocardium was observed; in 93 cases there were only few focuses less than 0.5 cm on diameter. In 83.2% of cases severe stenosis of coronary arteries (over 75%) was determined; it occurred more often in subjects aged 30-39 than in older persons. In all the cases myocardial lesions could be found out by dying the cuts with iron hematoxylin by the method of Rego and by investigation in polarized light. Contracture-altered segments of muscle fibers were often combined with hyper-relaxed segments, though in some cases one type alterations prevailed. Other cardiomyocyte alterations (vacuolization, hypertrophy, nucleus polymorphism, windings, fragmentation and so on) were more often in sudden coronary death than in the control group.

[Atherosclerotic stenosis of the coronary arteries and contraction lesions of the myocardium in sudden coronary death]. / Ateroskleroticheskii stenoz koronarnykh arterii i kontrakturnye povrezhdeniia miokarda pri vnezapnoi koronarnoi smerti.

Hearts of 50 patients (males of 30 to 54 years) after sudden cardiac death (SCD) without myocardial infarction, acute or recorded in the past, were studied. Heart slides were stained with an iron hematoxylin; polarizing microscopy was also used. The surface of cardiomyocytes diffusely stained with an iron hematoxylin was determined in histological slides by means of a 100-points ocular mesh. Essential differences in the spread of contractural myocardial lesions were found, this likely to be bound with different mechanisms of death (ventricular fibrillation, asystole). A low degree of spread of these lesions was noted more frequently in grave stenoses (greater than 75%) of coronary arteries. A direct correlation between the spread of contractural lesions and renin activity in plasma is found.

Lateralization of LH-RH in rat hypothalamus.

An asymmetrical LH-RH distribution in rat hypothalamus has been found. In Wistar rats LH-RH content in the right hypothalamus exceeds that in the left one; in albino rats a contrary distribution is observed. LH-RH lateralization changes during a 24-h period. Unilateral castration or cold stress lead to a shift in LH-RH distribution in the hypothalamus.

[Effect of beta-endorphin on G-cells in rats with experimental duodenal ulcer]. / Vliianie beta-éndorphina na G-kletki u krys s éksperimental'noi iazvoi dvenadtsatiperstnoi kishki.

Immunohistochemistry was used to study the changes in the number of G cells in the antral part of the stomach of rats (40 animals) with cystamine-induced duodenal ulcer treated with beta-endorphine. In the stomach of rats with cystamine-induced ulcer the number of G cells was discovered to be significantly increased, which was removed by an opioid peptide. Naloxone did not block the action of beta-endorphine. Thus, beta-endorphine changes the number of G cells, the drug action being not associated with opiate receptors.

[Cardiogenic shock and sudden cardiac death]. / Kardiogennyi shok i vnezapnaia serdechnaia smert'.

The study of 148 cases of sudden cardiac death revealed in 25 (17%) of them morphological signs of cardiogenic shock characterized by severe microcirculatory disorders: uneven blood-filling of the vessels of the microcirculatory bed and increasing number of nonfunctioning capillaries in the myocardium and hypothalamus; signs of juxtamedullar shunting in the kidneys and the development of sludge phenomenon in different parts of their microcirculatory bed combined with high activity of renin in the plasma. The signs of cardiogenic shock in the group of observations of sudden cardiac death were noted predominantly in the presence of myocardial infarction, large foci of ischemia in the heart or multiple scattered foci of cardiomyocyte damage. Cardiogenic shock was found to occur in sharp reduction of the density of adrenergic nerve structures in the myocardium.

[Luteinizing hormone content in the hypothalamus in relation to the physiological status of rats]. / Soderzhanie liuteniziruriushchego gormona v gipotalamuse v zavisimosti ot fiziologicheskogo sostoianiia krys.

Content and relative concentration (per 1 mg of protein) of luteinizing hormone (LH) varied in rat hypothalamus depending on the animal sex and age. In hamster hypothalamuses the hormone content correlated with the state of sexual cycle; maximal content of LH was found during estrus. Content of LH in hypothalamus depend also on the effect of light (rhythmic illumination, permanent light or darkness, duration of the light effect). After gonadectomy content of LH was increased in hypothalamus of female rats within 60 days. Simultaneous hypophys- and ovariectomies increased the LH content in hypothalamus already within 14 days after the treatment. Whole-body perfusion of rats did not alter the LH content in hypothalamus. LH was found in the middle and posterior parts of hypothalamus, particularly, in arcuate nucleus, middle eminence and mammillary bodies.

[Gonadotropin from the bovine pineal body. Evidence of its similarity with the luteinizing hormone of the pituitary gland]. / Gonadotropin iz pineal'nykh zhelez byka. Dokazatel'stva identichnosti s luteiniziruiushchim gormonom gipofiza.

Gonadotropin affiliated by biological and immunochemical properties to the luteinizing hormone of the hypophysis was revealed in the purified extracts from the bovine pineal glands. Biological properties of gonadotropin from the pineal glands were assessed by the reactions specific of the luteinizing hormone. Immunochemical properties of gonadotropin were studied by means of gel-precipitation in agar gel, immunoelectrophoresis and radioimmunochemical analysis. It was found that the specific content of gonadotropin in the epiphysis was 80 times lower than the specific content of the luteinizing hormone in the hypophysis, but exceeded the LH concentration in the blood serum 555 times and in the cerebrospinal fluid 6.8 times. Immunoreactive LH was absent in the extracts of the brain cortex, the liver and the ovaries. A theoretical interpretation of a possible physiological role of the LH-like gonadotropin in the endocrine regulation of the reproductive function of the organism is given in this work.