Cold stress effects on cardiomyocytes nuclear size in rats: light microscopic evaluation

Total body induced hypothermia and myocardial cooling are effective methods regarding myocardial protection during heart surgery and ischemia. It is described in previous studies that extreme low temperature exposure causes mitochondrial cristae and myofilament disarrangement in cardiomyocytes, however, no investigation has analyzed the effects of cold stress on nuclear size of cardiomyocytes.

To evaluate the effects of acute cold stress exposure on the nuclear size of cardiomyocytes in rats.

The experimental study procedures were performed on 300-310 g adult male Wistar rats. Rats (n=20) were divided into two groups: 1) Control (CON) and; 2) Induced hypothermic (IH) group. Animals of IH group were exposed during 4 hours once at a controlled temperature of - 8 degrees C. It was performed histological analysis of liver and adrenal gland to examine the stress condition of animals. Cardiomyocytes nucleus size were examined by three independent investigators with the same and standardized criteria and analyzed by Bartko's intra-class correlation coefficient (R>0.75 = positive concordance). Student's t test was applied. The significance level was set at P<0.05.

The induced hypothermic group presented higher lipid depletion in adrenal gland cells (P<0.05) and higher glycogen depletion in liver glycogen (P<0.05). The experimental group showed lower cardiomyocytes nuclear volume (108 + 1.7 microm(3); P<0.05), it decreased in 76% compared to the control group (142 + 2.3 microm(3)). Bartko's correlation: CON=0.44; IH=0.96, variation analysis between group's means differences was significant.

These data suggest that acute cold stress exposure induces cardiomyocytes nucleus size reduction in rats.