Hormonal and metabolic changes during acute myocardial infarction in normotensive vs hypertensive rats

Male and female, normotensive, Sprague-Dawley (S-D) rats, and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were subjected to acute and massive myocardial infarction with isoproterenol. Some of the animals were pre-treated (7 days) with the prolactin-lowering drug, bromocryptine. SHR survived in greater numbers than S-D but developed massive congestive heart failure of late onset. The adrenal glands and hearts became greatly hypertrophied in parallel with severely involuted thymus glands. ECG tracings demonstrated intense tachycardia and myocardial ischaemia. Bromocryptine reduction of prolactin (PRL) showed no effect on ECG tracings but reduced triglyceride, free fatty acid, total cholesterol and glucose levels. Isoproterenol caused dynamic increase in glucose, free fatty acids and triglycerides. CPK levels demonstrated greater cardiac damage in S-D vs SHR; greatly elevated SGOT and SGPT levels confirmed the presence of fatty liver in S-D and SHR. Myocardial infarction caused marked increase in circulating PRL in females only and sustained increases in aldosterone and corticosterone. SHR survivors had a high incidence of atrial and ventricular thrombi, left ventricular aneurysms, and intense fibroplasia and cartilaginous metaplasia in areas adjacent to damaged myocardium. It is suggested that adrenal steroidogenesis during an acute myocardial infarct favours survival and more complete myocardial repair in females vs males, and preexisting hypertension in SHR is associated with hormonal and metabolic response patterns different from normotensive S-D rats.