Beta-adrenergic responsiveness of papillary muscles in the rat postinfarction model

Rats in which ligation of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery did not result in an infarct visible to the naked eye have generally been called sham-operated controls and have been used to evaluate changes in the characteristics of the remaining viable myocardium of rats where myocardial infarction was present. Whether these sham-operated rats are equivalent to normal controls or whether they have been altered by the surgery is unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential differences in papillary muscle mechanical characteristics and responsiveness to beta-adrenergic stimulation in control, open-chest, sham-operated (aborted infarct), and infarct rats 4 weeks after surgery. Absence of significant myocardial damage was verified by morphologic examination in sham-operated hearts: myocardial infarction scar was 1.5 +/- 0.6% (mean +/- SE) of circumference, no infarct being transmural. Basal contractile indices were decreased in papillary muscles in infarct rats compared with the three other groups. The response in contractile indices of infarct muscles to isoproterenol was also less compared with the other three groups. However, although basal contractility was the same in muscles from sham-operated, open-chest, and controls, the responsiveness of sham-operated muscles to isoproterenol was less: change in total tension of 2.9 +/- 1.2% vs. 9.5 +/- 2.7% for controls and 9.3 +/- 2.4% for open-chest (p < 0.05). Percent change in maximum rate of tension development (+dT/dt) was also less in muscles from sham-operated versus control muscles (21 +/- 2 vs. 33 +/- 6%; p < 0.05). Twitch configuration changed similarly with isoproterenol in all four groups. Thus, although contractility is unaffected by sham operation, beta-adrenergic responsiveness of tension-generating indices is modified.