Biochemical characteristics of mammalian myocardia.

Selected biochemical parameters of the ventricular myocardium were compared among several orders of adult mammals with established differences in resting heart rate (cattle, 51 beats/min; swine, 68; canine, 107; rabbit, 256; guinea-pig, 273; rat, 355; mouse, 475). It was hypothesized that the biochemical character of mammalian myocardia is associated with the chronic functional demand on the muscle. Therefore, differences observed in the myocardial biochemical potential among the species could reflect differences in resting heart rate. Myocardia from smaller mammals with higher resting heart rate had significantly (P less than 0.05) higher maximal activities of citrate synthase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase (muscle/total), hexokinase and oxidation rates of glucose and palmitate than did larger mammals with lower resting heart rate. Maximal activities of phosphorylase and phosphofructokinase were more uniform across the animals. Correlation coefficients determined among average values of measured biochemical parameters and resting heart rate indicated that resting heart rate was closely associated with: citrate synthase (r = 0.86), 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (r = 0.93), ratio muscle/total lactate dehydrogenase (r = 0.89), hexokinase (r = 0.89), glucose oxidation (r = 0.88), and palmitate oxidation (r = 0.93). Significant correlations were observed among all of these parameters with the exception of citrate synthase vs. 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and glucose oxidation vs. muscle/total lactate dehydrogenase. It was concluded that the oxidative capacity of mammalian myocardia was closely associated with resting heart rate, whereas the glycolytic potential of the myocardia was more uniform among the species.