Close Correlations between Mitochondrial Swelling and ATP-Content in the Ischemic Canine Myocardium: A Combined Morphometric and Biochemical Study

Summary This study investigates how far mitochondrial swelling in the ischemic heart is influenced by factors pertaining to anaerobic energy turnover. Canine hearts were arrested by aortic cross clamping or cardioplegically with St. Thomas or HTK solution and incubated at 25 °C in the solution used for cardiac arrest. Samples of the left ventricle were taken at the end of cardiac arrest and during ischemia for structural evaluation and biochemical analysis. The extracellular pH in the interventricular septum was measured. Mitochondrial swelling was determined with the surface to volume ratio} a parameter independent of the reference space. Values obtained for different swelling were related to defined metabolite concentrations and pH e values to establish possible correlations between structural and biochemical parameters in the ischemic heart. At the onset of ischemia and during the breakdown of creatine phosphate (CP) to 3 μmol/g wet weight mitochondrial volume depends on the method of cardiac arrest and does not increase significantly in any of the three groups. The degree of mitochondrial swelling after depletion of CP correlates with the decline in ATP independent of the form of cardiac arrest. Characteristic values of the surface to volume ratio ascertained at different times of ischemia for all groups correspond to determined ATP concentrations. Acid pH e values seem to intensify mitochondrial swelling. With increased lactate concentrations mitochondria swell, but first initially the degree of swelling differs significantly in the forms of cardiac arrest investigated. Thus, the surface to volume ratio is a powerful and valid ultrastructural parameter, which makes correlations between mitochondrial structure and metabolism possible and furthermore indicates a strong correlation between mitochondrial swelling and ATP-concentration in the ischemic heart.