Altered inotropic responses in diabetic cardiomyopathy and hypertensive-diabetic cardiomyopathy

To understand the mechanisms of diabetic cardiomyopathy and the consequences of combined hypertension and diabetes, cardiac tissue responses to various inotropic agents were measured in experimental diabetes. Streptozotocin was injected into Wistar rats, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKYs). Six weeks after the injection diabetic rats showed a subsensitivity to beta adrenergic stimulation in ventricular tissue and a supersensitivity and hyper-responsiveness to Ca++ and alpha adrenergic stimulation (except in WKYs) in ventricular tissues and left atria. A supersensitivity to BAY K 8644 in SHR left atria and a hyper-responsiveness to verapamil in ventricular strips were also noted. These alterations may be due to a change in receptor number or to postreceptor alterations. Diabetic SHRs exhibited greater changes in several of the drug responses (responses to isoproterenol, phenylephrine and BAK 8644) were more hyperlipidemic and had a high mortality as compared with Wistar rats and WKY diabetics. These findings confirm that the combination of hypertension and diabetes results in greater cardiac pathology than is seen with either disease alone.