Enzyme pattern in endomyocardial biopsies from patients with chronic heart diseases

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Biochemistry
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Chronic heart diseases encompass conditions like small vessel disease, cardiomyopathies, and hypertensive heart disease.
• Assessing the severity of these conditions often involves evaluating left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), ventricular kinetics, left ventricular heart mass (LVHM), and exercise electrocardiogram results.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate and compare isoenzymes of Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH), Aspartate Aminotransferase (ASAT), and Glycogen Phosphorylase (GP) in patients with chronic heart disease.
• To determine if these biochemical markers correlate with the degree of cardiac hypertrophy and disease stage.

Main Methods:

• Endomyocardial biopsies were obtained from 67 patients diagnosed with various chronic heart diseases.
• Biopsies were analyzed for LDH and ASAT isoenzymes and GP.
• Results were compared to a reference group without evidence of chronic heart disease.

Main Results:

• Characteristic alterations in LDH and ASAT isoenzymes and GP were observed in patients with chronic heart disease.
• These biochemical changes were found to be dependent on the degree of heart muscle cell hypertrophy.
• The observed alterations also correlated with disease severity as indicated by LVEDP, ventricular kinetics, LVHM, and exercise ECG.

Conclusions:

• The study identified specific biochemical alterations in myocardial enzymes (LDH, ASAT) and Glycogen Phosphorylase (GP) in chronic heart disease.
• These biochemical markers reflect distinct metabolic states within the myocardium.
• The findings suggest that these biochemical alterations can serve as valuable supplementary information for assessing the severity of chronic heart disease.