Local changes in myosin types in diseased human atrial myocardium: a quantitative immunofluorescence study

Two monoclonal antibody groups were prepared from adult human atrial and ventricular myosin heavy chains. Using these two groups, we were able to identify two myosin variants in human atria and to classify human atrial fibers into alpha-, mixed, or beta-fibers according to the reactivity of the two monoclonal antibody groups to alpha- and beta-myosin heavy chains of normal young and hypothyroid rat ventricles, respectively. The alpha-fiber percentage of the left atria in two normal human hearts was 15% higher than in the right atria. The auricles contained two to three times more alpha-fibers than beta-fibers, whereas the proportion was reversed in the crista terminalis. The mean fiber diameter of the alpha- and beta-fibers was 13.6 +/- 3 micron. A complete alpha- to beta-fiber transition was observed in all atrial regions of two hearts with severe ventricular myocardial infarction; a moderate alpha- to beta-fiber transition was observed only in the left atria of two hearts with primary congestive cardiomyopathy. The mean diameters of the two fiber types were significantly increased in all diseased hearts (19 +/- 3.8 micron). We hypothesize that pressure overload and increased wall tension successively induce an enlargement of the fiber diameter and an alpha- to beta-myosin transition.