Abstract
Reduced exercise capacity is a key symptom and an independent determinant of mortality in patients with heart failure. We analyzed the running activity of hamsters with cardiac dysfunction after myocardial infarction.In 39 male Syrian hamsters aged 10 to 12 weeks, a myocardial infarction (MI) was produced by permanent ligation of the left coronary artery. Spontaneous running activity in a wheel was monitored daily. After four weeks, left ventricular (LV) hemodynamics (catheter tip manometry) were measured at baseline and during inotropic stimulation (isoprenaline 0.03, 0.1 and 0.3 μg/kg/min i.v.). LV infarct size was quantified using planimetry.Four weeks post MI, daily running distance was reduced stepwise in animals with small (4–15 % of LV: 9.8 ± 3.4 km/d) and large (> 15 % of LV: 7.5 ± 3.5 km/d) MI, compared to sham-operated hamsters (11.5 ± 1.5 km/d). Similar reductions were observed in maximum speed and distance of longest running period. MI size influenced daily running distance, maximum speed, and longest running period (linear correlations, all p < 0.05). MI size also impaired LV systolic and diastolic function under isoprenaline stimulation.The results suggest that myocardial infarction reduces running capacity and isoprenaline stimulated LV function in hamsters, mimicking impaired exercise performance in patients with heart failure. Analysis of running activity in hamsters with myocardial infarction offers a unique opportunity for non-invasive and serial functional assessment of heart failure in the experimental setting.
Highlights
Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome in which the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently [1]
The New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification, which is based on a semi-quantitative assessment of exercise capacity, has been established as a pragmatical, functional parameter to quantify the degree of HF in any individual patient
The present study demonstrates that activity in the running wheel is reduced in hamsters with chronic myocardial infarction, corresponding to impaired exercise performance in patients with HF
Summary
Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome in which the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently [1]. The New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification, which is based on a semi-quantitative assessment of exercise capacity, has been established as a pragmatical, functional parameter to quantify the degree of HF in any individual patient. Myocardial dysfunction can be induced by a large number of different methods reflecting the different etiologies of HF in the clinic. We quantified daily wheel-running performance in hamsters with and without myocardial infarction. Similar to the clinical situation, the degree of cardiac dysfunction in hamsters can be quantitatively assessed using activity in the running wheel. The hamster post MI model offers a unique experimental setup to study the functional aspects of HF serially and non-invasively
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