[Functional state of mitochondria, myofibrils and creatine kinase associated with these organelles of the myocardium in hamsters with hereditary cardiomyopathy].

Functional states of the cardiac contractile apparatus and mitochondria were studied in hamsters with hereditary cardiomyopathy using myocardial fibers with sarcolemma, which had been exposed to saponin. This provided an opportunity of examining the respiratory characteristics of a total mitochondrial population in the myocardium of the animals of two ages (75-100 and 175-200 days). A higher calcium sensitization of myofibrils was found in hamsters with cardiomyopathy. Examination of the rigor tension-MgATP relationship in the presence or absence of phosphocreatine revealed that the animals showed a slightly lower functional activity of myofibrillar creatine kinase. The findings indicate that the creatine kinase system of cardiomyocytes is involved in hereditary cardiomyopathy, mitochondria, in particular, exhibiting much more profound disturbances, in other respects, myofibrils and mitochondria retain their basic functional properties.