The hypoxic, low-flow perfused rat heart: characterization as a model of global ischaemia.

In the study of the mechanism of mitochondrial damage in myocardial ischaemia, production of a small animal model of global ischaemia proved to be necessary. Thus, the effects of coronary flow rate, oxygen availability and substrate availability were studied on the functional capacity of mitochondria isolated from perfused rat hearts. The hypoxic, low-flow perfused heart eventually chosen was evaluated as a model of myocardial ischaemia by measuring tissue contents of high energy phosphate compounds and glycolytic intermediates and by assessing the effects of exogenous substrates on the above parameters.