AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 248, Issue 3 350-H359, Copyright © 1985 by American Physiological Society
Creatine kinase and phosphorylase in cardiac lymph: coronary occlusion and reperfusion
L. H. Michael, J. R. Hunt, D. Weilbaecher, M. B. Perryman, R. Roberts, R. M. Lewis and M. L. Entman
Cardiac lymph, collected from conscious dogs, was monitored for glycogen
phosphorylase and creatine kinase (CK) enzymatic activity during control
state, circumflex coronary artery (CFX) occlusion, and reperfusion. CFX
occlusions, lasting for intervals as short as 10 min, initiated a release
of phosphorylase and CK into the cardiac lymph, which was immediately
observed during reperfusion of the ischemic tissue. Blood plasma levels did
not appear for several hours. In the absence of reperfusion, the appearance
of enzymes in cardiac lymph was delayed and peaked later. Glycogen
phosphorylase and CK entered the lymph in greater quantities with
reperfusion as the length of occlusion was increased. Histological
examination of multiple sections of the reperfused hearts showed infarcts
in hearts where CFX occlusions lasted 20 min or longer; occlusions of 10-15
min showed evidence of cell injury and death in two hearts and no definable
infarct in the majority. Ischemic intervals of short duration release
functionally active glycogen phosphorylase and CK, which reflect changes in
myocardial cell egress of macromolecules and/or cell death.
