Ultrastructure of the Heart Muscle in Rats under Hypobaric Stress and under High NaCl Intake

Abstract

Cellular metabolic alterations in the heart have been widely investigated under a variety of experimental conditions in which the oxygen supply was diminished. However, there is relatively scarce information about the effect of the reduced food intake and saline loading on the ultrastructural changes occurring in myocardial cells exposed to hypobaric stress during short periods of time. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the effects of hypobaric stress, NaCl intake and undernourishment on the body and heart weights and the ultrastructural changes produced in the rat myocardial cells under these conditions. The body and heart weights in all the experimental groups were determined as well as the total and mitochondrial protein concentrations. A significant decrease in body and cardiac weights was observed in both groups of undernourished animals submitted to hypobaric stress or not. On the other hand, a slight increase in the mitochondrial protein concentration was obtained in the same groups. Cardiac muscle samples were processed for light- and electron-microscopic observations. Few ultrastructural alterations were seen in the experimental groups fed with a standard diet; however, an increase in the mitochondrial size was shown in the rats that received 0.9 and 1.3% NaCl solutions. In the groups of animals with one third of the normal protein-calorie intake, more intense changes were noted; disappearance of the contractile structures, with almost complete extinction of the Z bands, was commonly observed in the rats submitted to hypobaric stress. The ultrastructural alterations seen in the undernourished animals were even more evident, showing generalized damage to the intracellular components.