Calibrated histochemistry of myoglobin concentration in cardiomyocytes

This article describes the calibration of a histochemical method to determine the myoglobin concentration in individual cardiomyocytes. Calibration is based on paired microdensitometric determinations in sections stained for myoglobin and on biochemical myoglobin determinations in tissue samples from different hearts. In addition, the staining intensity of sections from gelatin blocks containing known amounts of myoglobin is determined. To construct a calibration line, sections stained for myoglobin must be corrected for the degree of shrinkage caused by glutaraldehyde fixation and biochemical myoglobin determinations must be corrected for interstitial space. As an example, the method is used to determine the myoglobin concentration in individual skeletal muscle fibers and in control and hypertrophied rat cardiomyocytes. The amount of myoglobin per cardiomyocyte nucleus is increased two- to threefold in hypertrophied cardiomyocytes, whereas changes in myoglobin concentration depend on the model of hypertrophy used.