An ultrastructural study on ischemic lesions in rabbits' hearts with pressure overload and hyperlipidemia

The effect of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and the combination of both on acute and chronic myocardial ischemia were evaluated in a total of 30 male rabbits. After preliminary hypertension and/or hyperlipidemic load by loading of the abdominal aorta and/or cholesterol feeding, acute ischemia was produced by clipping of the left coronary artery. The banding produced elevation of carotid arterial pressure and left ventricular hypertrophy. Cholesterol feeding resulted in severe atheromatous changes in all sizes of coronary arteries. The intimal thickening was due to foam cell accumulation in all arteries examined. Animals pretreated with the combination of hypertension and hyperlipidemia displayed the most severe cardiolmegaly with advanced coronary atherosclerosis and chronic ischemic lesions of the myocardium, i.e., perivascular patchy fibrosis in the subendocardial area. Furthermore, electron microscopic detection of ultrastructural myocardial damage, involving glycogen depletion, sarcoplasmic edema, mitochondrial swelling, and contractile abnormalities, was also most frequent in this group. These changes were quantitated using the ischemic score. These results confirm the hypothesis that fatal ischemic injuries may occur clinically in human hearts with coronary insufficiency due to coexistence of hypertensive cardiomegaly and severe coronary atherosclerosis. They offer a model for further study of these combined effects.