Abstract
As an integrative response to the prolonged metabolic demands of digestion, Burmese python (Python molurus) experience rapid growth of their heart. Within 3 days after feeding, pythons have experienced a 40% increase in cardiac mass. Deemed a physiological response to increase cardiovascular performance, the python's cardiac hypertrophy is characterized by an increase in mitochondrial volume and is sensitive to meal size and meal composition. Given that human heart disease is characterized by pathological cardiac hypertrophy, we explored whether we could induce pathological cardiac hypertrophy for the Burmese python using a modified version of transverse aortic constriction. We completely ligated the python's left aortic arch, thereby forcing all systemic blood flow into the right aortic arch and hence generating chronic ventricular pressure overload. Pythons suffered no ill effects from the ligation of their left systemic artery and were able to maintain adequate blood flow through the dorsal aorta. Preliminary examination revealed that ligation of the left systemic artery for 10 ‐ 200 days resulted in a 25% increase in ventricular mass. In addition, the ventricles of these snakes possessed a greater amount of fibrous tissue, a feature characteristic of pathological hypertrophy. We propose the python as a very attractive model to explore the underlying mechanisms of physiological and pathological cardiac hypertrophy. Supported by NSF IOS‐0466139 to SMS.
Published Version
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