[Effect of hypoxia on a primary cardiomyocyte culture]

The primary cultures of 3-day old rats heart myocytes were used for studying hypoxia. The cells were gassed for 1 or 2 hours with 100% N2 or with the mixture of 90% N2, 5% CO2, 5% O2. The cells' morphology was tested by the light microscopy. The contractility of the cells was lost after oxygen deprivation. But it was reversible when the cells were exposed to 5% O2 for an hour and then were returned to the normal conditions. Oxygen deprivation changed the cell's morphology so that vacuolization, bubbling, contracture, exfoliation of the cell membrane from the glass surface could be observed. The number of the cells with morphological alterations increased when the content of oxygen in the gas mixture was lowered and the time of gassing was prolonged. The authors assume that the primary culture of the myocardial cells is a suitable model for studying the metabolic patterns of reversible injuries caused by one hour hypoxia (5% O2).