Histoenzymological Characteristics of Smooth Muscle Cells in Myocardial Vessels: A Comparative Study under Conditions of Increased Left or Right Ventricular Afterload.

Histoenzymological methods were used to study metabolism of smooth muscle cells of intramural myocardial arteries during experimental aortic or pulmonary artery stenosis. Aortic stenosis was accompanied by changes in smooth muscles of the left ventricle manifested by deceleration of tricarboxylic acid cycle, inhibition of oxidation of free fatty acids and their metabolites, flux redistribution in the glycolytic cascade, and inhibition of shuttle systems and biosynthetic processes. Similar metabolic alterations were observed in vessels of the ventricular septum, but they were not revealed in vessels of the right ventricle (except glycolysis stimulation). Under conditions of pulmonary artery stenosis, histoenzymological alterations in vascular smooth muscle of both ventricles and ventricular septum were similar, which attested to acceleration of tricarboxylic acid cycle, stimulation of oxidation of the free fatty acids with their metabolites, acceleration of glycolysis, and activation of the shuttle systems and biosynthetic processes. Comparative analysis of histoenzymological alterations revealed substantial differences in the character of metabolic changes under conditions of increased left and right ventricular afterload, which can be caused by peculiarities in myocardial blood flow, severity of circulatory disorders, severity of hypoxia, and intensity of processes maintaining ionic homeostasis in vascular smooth muscles and transport across the histohematic barriers. The data attest to important metabolic role of glycolysis in vascular smooth muscles of the myocardium, especially under conditions of enhanced afterload of the right ventricle.

Effect of adrenoblockers on slow (LF) waves in rabbit heart rate.

Propranolol and atenolol were used to examine the role of the adrenergic system in the genesis of slow HR variations (waves) in rabbits, the animals characterized by pronounced sympathetic influences. The control experiments were performed with physiological solution and long-term records in intact rabbits. The harmonic (spectrum) analysis was performed with fast Fourier transform. The adrenoblockers produced no decrease in the power of slow waves. The study did not found the sympathetic genesis of slow variations in rabbit HR.

[The effect of music containing binaural beats on daytime fall-asleep dynamics]. / Vliianie muzyki, soderzhashchei binaural'nye bieniia, na dinamiku dnevnogo zasypaniia.

AIM: To test the hypothesis that listening to the music with the effect of binaural beats of theta and delta range during nap decreases sleep latency defined by 2nd slow wave sleep stage appearance, as well as improves its stability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The experimental set of 20 min duration was established according to the counterbalanced scheme with 21 subjects. Each subject participated in two attempts: one attempt included sound stimulation (music) and another one was sham (silence). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The decrease in sleep latency during stimulation is not confirmed reliably. The increase in sleep stability has been confirmed reliably using nonlinear regression model. The findings can be used in the development of non-pharmacologic ways of sleep treatment.

Chronotropic and inotropic components of cardiac reflexes in cats.

The relationship between chronotropic and inotropic components of cardiac reflexes were studied in cats using intravenous blood injections, occlusion of the abdominal aorta, pressing on eyeballs (Aschner maneuver), and occlusion of the carotid arteries. Inotropic reactions were characterized by the contractility index DPxHR/MSAP. Different reflexes were shown to be characterized by different ratio of chronotropic and inotropic components, in addition, heart rate and contractility were often altered in opposite directions.

[The pacemaker cells of the heart: their electrical activity and the effect of autonomic neuromediators]. / Peismekernye kletki serdtsa: élektricheskaia aktivnost' i vliianie vegetativnykh neiromediatorov.

The review is concerned with mechanisms of rhythmogenesis in pacemaker cells of the heart and with action of autonomic transmitters on these cells. Most attention is paid to background conditions in the action of transmitters and to secondary effects of their influences: on the basis of these background conditions and secondary effects are explained some of the mechanisms of many phenomena associated with neural influences on heart rate (vagal escape, "paradoxical" positive vagal effect, phase-dependent neural influences). Two types of transmitter influences on pacemaker cells are distinguished: the controlling influences and the modulating ones. The controlling influences can serve to set up the heart rate to a strictly determined level, and with the modulating ones only the limits of possible regulation of heart rate can be approximately shifted. The controlling influences are realized through the action of acetylcholine on IAch-channel, sensitive only to that transmitter: on the other hand, the modulating influences are performed through the actions of acetylcholine and catecholamines on voltage-dependent currents determining the rhythmogenesis in pacemaker cells--ICa, IK and Ih. Biochemical mechanisms of the two kinds of influences are discussed; the modulating ones are realized through some second-messenger systems.

[Positive chronotropic and inotropic effects of stimulation of the vagus nerve centers in the frog heart]. / Polozhitel'nye khronotropnye i inotropnye éffekty razdrazheniia tsentrov bluzhdaiushchikh nervov na serdtse liagushki.

In frogs, positive inotropic effects are transmitted catecholaminergically as they have been blocked with propranolol but not with atropine. Positive chronotropic effects were in some experiments blocked with atropine and not with propranolol (a "cholinergic type" of of positive chronotropic effect), the opposite occurred in other experiments (an "adrenergic type"). The cholinergic positive chronotropic effects were observed with the initial slow heart rate and were accompanied by negative inotropic effects; the chronotropic effect itself appeared suddenly (with no gradual acceleration of heart rate) and disappeared just as suddenly. The adrenergic effects, on the contrary, were observed with the initial rapid heart rate; they were accompanied by positive inotropic effects and developed and disappeared gradually.

[Differential neural influences on the heart rate and contractile force in different reflex reactions]. / Differentsirovannye nervnye vliiania na chastotu i silu sokrashchenii serdtsa pri razlichnykh reflektornykh reaktsiiakh.

Chronotropic and inotropic responses of the cat heart to cooling of the nn. vagi, raising of arterial pressure, stimulation of central ends of the nn. vagi, were different under different actions but stable in their character. This makes unreliable the estimation of reflex and tonic effects on the heart on the basis of heart rate alone.

[Electrical activity of the heart cells and myocardial contractility during a change in extracellular sodium concentration]. / Elektricheskaia aktivnost' kletok serdtsa i sokratimost' miokarda pri izmenenii vnekletochnoi kontsentratsii natriia.

The transmembrane potentials of the cells of the ventricle contractile myocardium of the rat and frog isolated hearts were studied as well as the strength of the ventricle contraction under the effect of a decrease (to 30 mM) or increase (up to 200 mM) in the sodium chloride concentration in the perfusate. The decrease led to a fibrillation of ventricles, 80-85% of contractile cells generating a high-frequency activity, 12-15% preserving the same AP and 3-5% having completely lost the excitability. The increase only affects the transmembrane potentials of ischemized myocardium. The decrease in the sodium concentration led to an augmentation of the contraction strength through the sodium-calcium exchange mechanism.

[Myocardial contractile indices as a means for studying the inotropic reactions of the different heart chambers in a computerized experiment]. / Indeksy sokratimosti miokarda kak sredstvo izucheniia inotropnykh reaktsii razlichnykh kamer serdtsa v komp'iuternom éksperimente.

Artifacts which can distort the heart chambers contractility indices and the ways of its prevention are discussed. Changes in the heart pre- and afterload causing an inotropic effects, are analysed. Recommendations on the computer systems for recording and processing of blood pressure parameters in physiological experiment, are given.

Effect of atropine, propranolol, and atenolol on wave structure of heart rate oscillations in rats.

Were studied the effects of atropine and beta-adrenoblockers on the power of very low (<0.25 Hz), low (0.25-0.70 Hz), and high frequency (0.7-1.8 Hz) waves of the heart rhythm in wakeful rats. Atropine reduced the power of all waves in 100% cases. Propranolol on average decreased the power of very low frequency waves and increased the power of low and high frequency waves, although opposite effects were observed in many cases. Atenolol produced similar effects. Some animals demonstrated spontaneous moderation of respiratory rate to a level corresponding to low-frequency oscillations of the heart rhythm accompanied by elevation of the relative power of low frequency waves. Inconsistency of the effects of beta-adrenoblockers in rats can be related to variability of sympathetic tone and spontaneous deceleration of respiration with the corresponding changes of low frequency waves. Augmentation of the high frequency waves during application of beta-adrenoblockers is not related to their action on CNS.

Chronotropic and dromotropic components of cardiac reflexes in the cat.

The relationship between dromotropic and chronotropic components of various cardiac reflexes was studied in cats. Intravenous infusion of blood was mainly accompanied by unidirectional negative chronotropic and dromotropic effects, but the dynamics of these effects was different. Clumping of the carotid arteries in most animals induced unidirectional negative chronotropic and dromotropic effects. Their dynamics was also different and differed from that observed during intravenous blood infusion. Pulsatile increase in blood pressure in the carotid artery was accompanied by a unidirectional negative effect in the majority of animals. The opposite chronotropic and dromotropic effects with similar temporal dynamics were revealed in 1/3 animals. The ratio of positive and negative effects was similar during clumping of the abdominal aorta (1/3 unidirectional, 1/3 opposite, and 1/3 isolated chronotropic and dromotropic effects). Aschner test was characterized by the prevalence of isolated chronotropic effect (negative effect in the majority of animals; positive effect in 1/3 animals). Hence, different cardiac reflexes are characterized by different ratio between chronotropic and dromotropic components.

Chronodromotropic coordination in cats.

The coordinated nervous influences on HR and atrioventricular conduction velocity (chronodromotropic coordination) were examined in wakeful cats. The wave structure and reflex reactions of RR and atrioventricular (AV) intervals to stress noise stimulation were studied under normal conditions and during the action of blockers of peripheral receptors in ANS. Variations of both intervals had similar wave structure (power spectrum) and similar reactions to noise stimulus. Atropine pronouncedly decreased all components of the spectra in the high, low, and very low frequency ranges. It eliminated the reactions of both intervals to noise stimulation. In RR intervals, the high-frequency spectrum component decreased more strongly than the low-frequency ones. By contrast, in AV intervals atropine most greatly decreased the very-low-spectrum component, while the high frequency was decreased less of all. Propranolol produced no effect on the response to noise. It did not decrease components of the wave structure in both intervals, except for the very-low-frequency peak of AV interval. The nervous chronotropic and dromotropic influences were largely coordinated, although they were not obligatorily parallel.

Effect of pentobarbital on spectral characteristics and phase ratios of wave oscillations of cardiac contraction period and time of atrioventricular conduction in cats.

Effects of pentobarbital on spectral characteristics and phase ratios of wave oscillations of the cardiac contraction period (RR interval) and time of atrioventricular conduction (AV interval) were studied in experiments of cats. Pentobarbital moderately reduced the mean values of both intervals and significantly reduced their standard deviations and spectral powers in all frequency bands (high-frequency, low-frequency, and very low-frequency). Pentobarbital treatment led to deceleration of breathing, the frequency range of respiratory oscillations of RR and AV intervals shifted in some cases from high to low frequencies; evaluation of spectral power in the intermittent band corresponding to respiration frequency (instead of standard fixed high-frequency band) showed that pentobarbital suppressed the respiratory oscillations in these bands. Pentobarbital induced inversion of phase ratio between respiratory oscillations of RR and AV intervals: oscillations of both intervals before pentobarbital coincided by phase, while after pentobarbital injection they were in antiphase. The mechanisms of the latter phenomenon deserve further investigation.

Role of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in heart rate regulation in cats.

The effects of atropine and beta-adrenoceptor blockers on mean HR, wave structure of the cardiac rhythm, and chronotropic reaction to noise stress were examined in cats. Atropine (0.5 mg/kg) increased the mean HR and significantly decreased the spectrum power of HF, LF, and VLF oscillations. The decrease in HF power was most pronounced, which enhanced LF/HF ratio. Propranolol (0.5 mg/kg) decreased the mean HR and slightly increased the power of HF, LF, and VLF oscillations. Atenolol (2 mg/kg) exerted similar but more pronounced effects. beta-Adrenoceptor blockers increased HF power to a greater extent than LF and VLF power, which led to a decrease in LF/HF ratio. Atropine markedly decreased the chronotropic reaction to stress. beta-Adrenoceptor blockers produced no effect on the amplitude of this reaction, but accelerated restoration of initial HR. It is established that the changes in power spectrum of HR and the phase reflex reactions in cats are mediated by parasympathetic influences; the sympathetic system is involved only in the control of mean HR, probably in response to the level of animal activity. The changes in LF/HF ratio during blockade of sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are caused by opposite influences of these systems on HF oscillations, but not by hypothetic "sympathetic" and "parasympathetic" nature of LF and HF oscillations of the heart rhythm.

[Action of pilocarpine on the normal frog heart and in pathology]. / Deistvie pilokarpina na serdtse liagushki v usloviiakh normy i patologii.

Experiments on frogs were performed to examine the effect of the M-cholinomimetic pilocarpine on the heart. It was discovered that at concentrations of 10(-15)--10(-5) g/ml pilocarpine exerted only an adverse chronotropic effect on the perfused heart. When applied at a concentration of 10(-4) g/ml the drug produced a negative as well as a positive chronotropic effect. The latter occurred spasmodically (without progressive rise in the heart rate) in association with a slow heart rate. In some experiments such effects were preceded by a certain deceleration of the heart. In experiments with positive chronotropic effects, arrhythmias and sinoatrial dissociation were observed sometimes. Experiments with recording of the electrograms of the sinuses and lower parts showed that such effects were caused not by pacemaker acceleration but by the removal of the blockade of conduction, between the pacemaker and the atria. As far as the pacemaker is concerned, pilocarpine exerted only a negative chronotropic effect.

Chronotropic and dromotropic components of cardiac reflexes in rabbits.

The relationships between dromotropic and chronotropic components of five reflexes were studied in rabbits: intravenous and intraarterial blood injections, occlusion of the carotid arteries, Aschner maneuver, and stimulation of depressors. All these stimuli reduced heart rate (except carotid artery occlusion, which induced approximately equal number of tachi- and bradycardic responses). The former three stimuli also reduced atrioventricular (AV) conduction velocity, the changes in these two parameters were proportional. Changes in heart rate induced by Aschner maneuver were more pronounced than changes in AV conduction. Stimulation of depressor induced co-directed shifts in these parameters during the first seconds, but then AV conduction increased, while heart rate remained decreased; bradycardia and AV acceleration persisted for long time after termination of stimulation. Our findings attest to independent regulation of heart rate and AV conduction velocity and to the absence of a strict relationship between these two parameters.

Frequency parameters of feline left ventricular pressure under various experimental conditions.

Cardiac frequency-domain parameters of the left ventricular pressure were studied in acute experiments on cats under conditions of reflex and load stimulation and during maximum inotropic stimulation with epinephrine. A strict correlation was revealed between the upper threshold of the frequency range and the maximum value of pressure first derivative. Without epinephrine infusion, the maximum value of pressure first derivative and the upper threshold of the frequency range attained 9840 mm Hg/sec and 98.4 Hz, correspondingly. During epinephrine infusion, the corresponding values were 12911 mm Hg/sec and 145 Hz. Left ventricular pressure in cats is characterized by high-frequency parameters, which can be measured by special catheter microtransducers and only in some cases by routine pressure gauges.

Contraction and relaxation indices in the study of neural inotropic and loositropic influences on the heart.

The possibility of using contraction and relaxation indices for evaluation of inotropic and loositropic influences on the heart was studied in experiments on cats. Increased pre- and afterload were used as the stimuli, which are simultaneously loading and reflexogenic. Under conditions of preserved innervation both stimuli elevated the indices selected according to the highest sensitivity/specificity ratio. Ganglionic blocker arfonad potentiated the effects of these stimuli. This attests to a considerable contribution of the myogenic component to the changes in the studied indices in response to increased pre- and afterload and to the existence of negative inotropic and loositropic influences on the heart under conditions of preserved innervation. These conclusions were supported when more specific indices were used: in most cases they decreased during load tests. Thus, when the contraction and relaxation indices are used for evaluation inotropic and loositropic influences on the heart, it seems reasonable either to compare heart responses under conditions of preserved or blocked innervation, or to apply more specific indices. Analysis of changes in most widely used indices (dP/dt)max and t showed that t reliably reflects neural loositropic influences, while the use of (dP/dt)max without proper control can be erroneous.

Whether independent regulation of myocardial contractility and diastolic relaxation rate is possible?

In acute experiments on cats neural inotropic and lusitropic reactions of the heart to enhancement of pre- and afterload were assessed by changes in contractility and relaxation indices, which were preliminary chosen for their maximum specificity and sensitivity. The control cardiac responses to increased pre- and afterload were measured after treatment with ganglionic blocker arfonad. The myogenic component of these responses assessed under the action of arfonad was highly pronounced, therefore the neural inotropic and lusitropic reactions were measured as the difference between load-induced changes of indices in experiments with and without arfonad. Increased preload produced similar negative inotropic and lusitropic effects, while increased afterload produced a more pronounced negative inotropic effect, which indicated independent regulation of contractility and diastolic relaxation of the heart.

[Selection of an optimal system for measurement of blood pressure]. / Podbor optimal'noi sistemy dlia izmereniia krovianogo davleniia.

The "pop-test" method was used to design an optimal system for precise measurement of fast arterial pressure oscillations by means of selecting optimal parameters of cardiovascular catheters and pressure transducers.