Comparative experimental study of myocardial energy metabolism during ventricular workload induced by chronic stenoses of ascendent aorta and pulmonary artery.

In this paper, an attempt was made to describe the alterations of the myocardial energy metabolism following moderate stenoses of aorta or pulmonary artery. Biochemical investigations regarding the main high energy phosphates and a large series of dehydrogenases in the myocardium of the overloaded ventricles have revealed the following facts: (1) the myocardial CP-CPK system appears to be more labile than the myocardial AMP-ATP system in response to a ventricular overload; (2) the changes in the amounts of myocardial high energy phosphates seem to be more important in the right chronic cardiac overload than in the left one; (3) before the overloaded ventricle becomes insufficient, the myocardial dehydrogenase system elicits no alteration, suggesting that the oxidative phosphorylation is not affected; (4) there is a closer relationship between the coronary flow and pressure and the myocardial energy metabolism than that existing between this metabolism and the tension of the myocardial fibres following a persistent increase in the systemic arterial resistance.