Relation of glycosylated hemoglobin to in vivo cardiac function in response to dobutamine in spontaneously diabetic BB Wor rats.

The contribution of metabolic control to in vivo myocardial contractile function in response to beta 1-adrenergic stimulation was determined in the spontaneously diabetic BB Wor rat. The study involved a group of insulin-dependent BB Wor rats showing marked variations in metabolic control, assessed by the level of glycosylated hemoglobin (gHb). These diabetic BB rats were divided into moderate and severe (%gHb > 14), diabetic groups. A group of Wistar rats and diabetes-resistant BB Wor rats served as controls. In vivo myocardial contractile function was measured under basal conditions and after i.v. dobutamine infusions in anesthetized rats, using a catheter-tip pressure transducer inserted into the left ventricle. No dramatic differences in heart rate with dobutamine stimulation were observed between the moderate, severe diabetic, and diabetes-resistant groups. However, heart rate was lower in Wistar control rats compared with these groups. Systolic left ventricular pressure was depressed in severe diabetic rats compared with Wistar controls. In addition, positive dP/dt was significantly less in the severe diabetic group at the highest doses of stimulation, whereas negative dP/dt was depressed under basal conditions and remained so with increasing doses of dobutamine. In the diabetic group maximal systolic left ventricular pressure, rate-pressure product, and negative dP/dt responses to dobutamine were all inversely correlated with gHb. These results indicate that changes in metabolic control of the insulin-dependent BB diabetic rat can contribute to a depressed myocardial contractile function.