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Autoradiographic Assessment of Blood Flow Heterogeneity in the Hamster Heart
Author(s) -
STAPLETON DWIGHT D.,
MOFFETT TYLER C.,
RASKIN DENIS G.,
BASSINGTHWAIGHTE JAMES B.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
microcirculation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.793
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1549-8719
pISSN - 1073-9688
DOI - 10.3109/10739689509146773
Subject(s) - hamster , blood flow , cardiology , medicine , chemistry
Objective: Provide regional flow measurement in the hearts of small mammals using a new, higher‐resolution technique based on the deposition of a molecular marker. Methods: We determined the instantaneous extraction and retention of the “molecular microsphere” radiolabeled desmethylimipramine in retrogradely perfused hamster hearts. In a separate series of experiments, autoradiography was used to measure regional myocardial deposition densities in hamster hearts of about 0.5 g with spatial area resolution of 16 × 16 μm. Results: Radiolabeled desmethylimipramine is almost 100% extracted during a single transcapillary passage and is retained in the tissue for many minutes. Autoradiographic images demonstrated a spatial flow heterogeneity with standard deviations of 31 ± 4% of the mean flow ( N = 5) in 16 × 16 × 20‐μm 3 voxels. This is equivalent to the projections made using fractal relationships from cruder observations obtained with microspheres in the hearts of baboons, sheep, and rabbits. Conclusion: Autoradiography using a molecular deposition marker provides quantitative information on myocardial flow heterogeneities with resolution at the size of cardiac myocytes. Because the regions resolved are smaller than the volume of regions supplied by single arterioles, the results must slightly exaggerate the true heterogeneity of regional flows.