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Cell size and capillary supply of the hypertensive rat heart: quantitative study

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Summary

Cardiac mass, cell size and capillary supply were studied in the hearts of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and compared to genetically similar non-hypertensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) of three adult ages: 5, 15 and 23 months. The left ventricular weight of SHR was not significantly greater than that of WKY at 5 months, but was 15 months and became even more so by 23 months. This increase could be attributed to hypertrophy of the individual cardiac muscle cells and therefore, the estimated total number of myocytes per left ventricle was essentially the same in all experimental groups. Various indices of the myocardial capillary supply were also investigated. Cardiac hypertrophy in older hypertensive rats was characterized by greater and more variable intercapillary spacing, which may have importance in myocardial oxygen supply.

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Author notes

  1. K. Rakusan (Professor)

    Present address: Department of Physiology, University of Ottawa School of Medicine, 451 Smyth Road, K1H 8M5, Ottawa, Ont., (Canada)

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, University of Ottawa School of Medicine, 451 Smyth Road, K1H 8M5, Ottawa, Ont., (Canada)

    P. W. Hrdina

  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Z. Turek

  3. Cardiovascular Section, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    E. G. Lakatta, H. A. Spurgeon & G. D. Wolford

Authors
  1. K. Rakusan
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  2. P. W. Hrdina
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  3. Z. Turek
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  4. E. G. Lakatta
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  5. H. A. Spurgeon
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  6. G. D. Wolford
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Additional information

With the technical assistance of C. J. Kuo and J. J. Gao. This work has been supported by the Ontario Heart Foundation and Medical Research Council.

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Rakusan, K., Hrdina, P.W., Turek, Z. et al. Cell size and capillary supply of the hypertensive rat heart: quantitative study. Basic Res Cardiol 79, 389–395 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01908138

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01908138

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