Diabetic cardiomyopathy in rats: mechanical and biochemical response to different insulin doses

Diabetes mellitus causes congestive heart failure in humans, independent of atherosclerosis. The present study extends previous work on the reversibility, with insulin, of the alterations in myocardial function and contractile protein biochemistry observed in diabetic rats. The response of these alterations to different fixed doses of insulin was explored. Diabetic rats were given 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, or 2.5 U of insulin daily for 6 wk. Papillary muscle function, actomyosin ATPase, and myosin isoenzyme distribution showed progressive normalization with increasing insulin dose as blood glucose concentration returned to normal. Thus insulin therapy in diabetic rats on a normal diet produces continuous improvement in cardiac function and biochemistry as euglycemia is approached. This study also suggests that mild diabetes results in qualitatively identical, although quantitatively less pronounced, myocardial changes compared with those observed in severely diabetic rats.