[Quantitative relationship between ischemic heart disease and parameters of energy metabolism]

The relationship between coronary heart disease, postischemic work recovery and tissue ATP levels as well as mitochondrial respiration rates were studied. Respiration of mitochondria was assessed without their isolation by using a novel method applying skinned fibers in physiological saline. The maximal mitochondrial respiration rates were unchanged during 35 min of normothermic ischemia in St. Thomas Hospital cardioplegic solution in the subsequent 30 min aerobic reperfusion period. A reversible increase in the basal respiration and a decrease in creatine-stimulated oxygen uptake were observed. Thus, the combined determination of mitochondrial respiration in situ in skinned cardiac fibers and tissue ATP may be a useful approach to studies of the pathogenesis of cardiac diseases.