Microimaging studies of myocardial substrate utilization and perfusion in two models of non-coronary heart disease

We have studied two animal models of non-coronary heart disease. The salt-sensitive Dahl strain hypertensive rats and their genetically matched normotensive controls and the cardiomyopathic BIO 53.58 (CM) strain Syrian hamsters with age and sex-matched RB strain controls. The CM strain hamster seems to be a very good model of human congestive cardiomyopathy and the Dahl strain hypertensive rats have also been found to be good models for studying the effects of hypertension on the myocardium. In our studies we compared the utilization of various metabolic substrates, viz., fatty acids, glucose analogs, and the early distribution of 201Tl, as an indicator of myocardial flow. The routine studies involving dissection of animals for assaying the radioactivity following the injection of radiopharmaceuticals is not suitable for assessing regional changes in metabolism and flow. The use of quantitative autoradiographic microimaging (ARG) enables the visualization of discrete regional as well as global changes from normal and to quantitate them. This paper describes the methodology and results of these investigations. 14 refs., 5 figs