Lack of effect of thyroid hormone on diabetic rat heart function and biochemistry

Cardiac functional abnormalities are frequently seen in diabetics and diabetes is also known to produce a state of mild hypothyroidism. To study the degree of involvement of diabetes-induced hypothyroidism on altered myocardial function, thyroid replacement therapy was carried out in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Triiodothyronine (T3) treatment was initiated 3 days after the rats were made diabetic and was carried out for 6 weeks thereafter. Isolated perfused hearts from diabetic rats exhibited a depression in left ventricular developed pressure and positive and negative dP/dt at higher filling pressures as compared with controls. The depression could not be prevented by thyroid treatment. Calcium uptake activity in the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was also depressed as a result of diabetes and this depression also was not prevented by thyroid treatment. Long chain acyl carnitine levels were found to be elevated in diabetic cardiac SR and could not be lowered by T3 treatment. The results indicate that the myocardial dysfunction observed in diabetic rats is due to factors other than the induced hypothyroidism.