Myocardial stiffness during hypoxic and reoxygenation contracture.

Isolated rat papillary muscle preparations were used to study hypoxic contracture, and cat papillary muscle preparations with ouabain to study reoxygenation contracture. Electronic analysis of the response to rapid small sinusoidal perturbations gave a continuous measurement of the elastic and viscous components of total stiffness. Increased resting force during hypoxic contracture was characterised by an increase in resting elastic and viscous stiffness relative to the control stiffness-active force relationships. During reoxygenation contracture the stiffness-force relationships followed those of active force development. The linear active force-elastic stiffness relationship (dt/dl=kT+c) was also reversibly altered during hypoxic contracture, predominantly by an increase in intercept c. These data imply that hypoxic contracture unlike reoxygenation contracture is not due solely to a rise in intracellular calcium, but is associated with a component of stiffness not participating an active force development, for example rigor.