Intracellular pH and H+ buffering capacity in guinea-pigs with left ventricular hypertrophy induced by constriction of the thoracic aorta.

Intracellular pH (pHi) was measured in left ventricular myocytes from hearts hypertrophied by constriction of the thoracic aorta. There was a continuous relation between an increase in heart-to-body weight ratio and a decrease in pHi (mean +/- S.D., 7.06 +/- 0.18 pH units in control hearts vs. 6.87 +/- 0.17 pH units in hypertrophied hearts). Intracellular H+ buffering capacity (beta) increased as pHi fell, but the value of beta was independent of hypertrophy per se.