Histochemical studies of monoamine oxidase in experimental myocardial infarctions

Sequential histochemical studies were conducted to determine the level of monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity in the infarcted tissue of the experimental myocardial infarction in dog. MAO activity was not found in the normal heart muscle, but the activities were present in the wall of the coronary artery histochemically. Fibroblasts and collagen fibers began to take the place of the destroyed heart muscles in the infarcted area from 10 days after the coronary occlusion in dogs, and MAO activities were noted sporadically in the fibroblasts and the interstices of the collagen fibers in the infarcted area. MAO activities increased histochemically in the fibroblasts and the fiber interstices in the infarcted area 10 days or more after the coronary occlusion. These findings suggested the presence of the active collagen metabolism outside the myocardial cells in the infarcted area in the recovery stage of the experimental myocardial infarction. It was also suggested that the interstices of the collagen fibers in the myocardial wall constituted the lymphatic ducts outside the blood vessels and that the MAO activity in serum determined by the method in which tryptamine hydrochloride was used as substrate might indicate the grade of fibrosis of the myocardial tissue in the infarcted areas.