Capillary density and fine structure in rabbit papillary muscles after a high dose of norepinephrine

Two days after an iv infusion of norepinephrine (NE) (4 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 X 60 min) in rabbits, patchy myocardial damage in frozen cross sections of right and left papillary muscles was associated with loss of staining for alkaline phosphatase (ALP), an enzyme present in normal capillary endothelium, whereas a regular pattern of staining was observed in control normal muscles. Semithin cross sections of the same muscles after resin embedment gave comparable estimates of capillary density in control muscles and undamaged regions of norepinephrine-treated muscles. In damaged regions the complete absence of ALP staining corresponded with an apparent reduction in number, but not absence, of capillaries identifiable in semithin sections with light microscopy. Electron microscopy, however, revealed capillaries present in these regions in numbers similar to control undamaged tissue. Around 90% of these capillaries exhibited marked morphological abnormalities, with an 18% increase in endothelial cell volume density and a corresponding reduction in luminal volume density. These changes are similar to those reported after ischemia in cardiac and skeletal muscle. Myocardial damage induced by a high dose of NE is therefore associated 48 hr later with loss of ALP staining and endothelial cell disruption and edema, which may impair capillary perfusion and contribute to limited working cardiac performance observed previously.