BIOLOGICAL TRACE ELEMENT RESEARCH 4, 241-243 (1982)
SHORT COMMUNICATION Cadmium, Cobalt, Chromium, and Experimental Myocardial Infarction HANS-JOACHIM PETERS,*t HEINZ KOHLER, HANS-JOACHIM DUCK, KURT RUDOLF G~)NTHER, AND H A N S P A N K A U
Medical Clinic of the Medical Department of Karl Marx University, Leipzig, German Democratic Republic Received January 15, 1982; Accepted March 26, 1982
Abstract In the case of experimental heart muscle infarction, the infarcted tissue of 18 pigs had a cadmium content of 0.38 I~g/g dry weight and a cobalt content of 0.45 Ixg/g dry weight. In 25 non-infarcted pig hearts, the cadmium concentration amounted to 0.27 txg/g dry weight and the cobalt concentration to 0.37 Ixg/g dry weight. Thus, as far as the infarcted heart muscle tissue is concerned, there is a highly significant increase in the cadmium content (p < 0.01) and a significant increase in cobalt content (p < 0.05) compared to a non-infarcted heart. No differences were established with regard to chromium concentrations. Index Entries: Myocardial infarction, and trace elements; atomic absorption, of trace elements; infarction, myocardial, and trace elements; cadmium, and myocardial infarction; cobalt, and myocardial infarction,chromium, and myocardial infarction.
Carroll has shown that in 28 US cities there is a distinct correlation between the cadmium content of the air and the mortality rates in heart disease, with the exception of those of a rheumatoid character. In this respect, there was, apart from zinc, no connection with other indices of contamination of the air and of these heart diseases. The investigation was performed on autopsy cases with myocardial infarction as the cause of death, employing neutron activation analysis, ion exchange, and gamma spectrometry. Wester found that, in comparison with the undamaged heart "Author's address: Dr. rer. nat. H. J. Peters, Medizinische Klinik der Karl-Marx-Universit/it, DDR-7olo Leipzig, Johannisallee 32, DDR. 9 1982 by The Humana Press Inc. All rights of any nature whatsoever reserved. 01634984/82/6900-0241 $02.00
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muscle tissue, there was evidence of a reduction in the cobalt content of the damaged myocardial regions. Further reference to the trace elements cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), and chromium (Cr) and to the incidence of cardiovascular diseases has also been made by other authors (2, 3, 5-8, 10-12). We have analyzed the elements mentioned above in both infarcted and non-infarcted heart muscle tissue of laboratory animals.
Materials and Methods The laboratory animals used were 20 domesticated pigs weighing from 25 to 40 kg. Following orotracheal intubation, the muscle-relaxed animals were operated on using nitrous oxide/oxygen anesthesia (N20/O2) with additions of halothane and ether. After thoracotomy, flow transducers were placed around the aorta abdominalis, the arteria carotis communis, and the right and left coronary arteries. Pressure in the left ventricle was measured with the catheter-tip manometer, in the right ventricle with the fluid-filled catheter. The myocardial infarction was induced by a ligature of the ramus interventricularis anterior (RIVA) at the passage between the middle and distal thirds. Effects on the cardiac rhythm and on hemodynamics were evaluated electrocardiographically, by recording the pressure and flow of the blood. Organs were removed within a period of 5 min after death. Three tissue samples each were taken for the right ventricle from the anterior wall of the heart and for the left one from the posterior wall of the heart. Samples of infarcted regions were obtained exclusively from the anterior wall of the left ventricle. The material to be examined was kept in a state of deep freeze until analytical processing. For this, samples were lyophilized and subsequently incinerated in a wet process, in order to avoid contamination, by means of a mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid. Determination of trace elements was effected by means of atomic absorption.
Results No significant differences were noted when comparing the Cd, Co, and Cr concentrations in topographically different samples from non-infarcted hearts. For this purpose, the mean values of the trace element concentrations in 18 laboratory animals were used. In the course of the animal tests, one animal was lost because of a nondefibrillizable ventricular fibrillation and another from an electrically induced ventricular fibrillation when attempting an electrocoagulation of the RIVA. The results obtained from tests carried out on 25 hearts of saughterhouse pigs were used for "establishing standard values." Results obtained by us tally well with the findings quoted in the relevant literature (1, 4, 9). The elements examined were established in non-infarcted/infarcted myocardium (in Ixg/g dry weight) in the following concentrations and with the percent differences mentioned, i.e., Table 1.
muscle tissue, there was evidence of a reduction in the cobalt content of the damaged myocardial regions. Further reference to the trace elements cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), and chromium (Cr) and to the incidence of cardiovascular diseases has also been made by other authors (2, 3, 5-8, 10-12). We have analyzed the elements mentioned above in both infarcted and non-infarcted heart muscle tissue of laboratory animals.
Materials and Methods The laboratory animals used were 20 domesticated pigs weighing from 25 to 40 kg. Following orotracheal intubation, the muscle-relaxed animals were operated on using nitrous oxide/oxygen anesthesia (N20/O2) with additions of halothane and ether. After thoracotomy, flow transducers were placed around the aorta abdominalis, the arteria carotis communis, and the right and left coronary arteries. Pressure in the left ventricle was measured with the catheter-tip manometer, in the right ventricle with the fluid-filled catheter. The myocardial infarction was induced by a ligature of the ramus interventricularis anterior (RIVA) at the passage between the middle and distal thirds. Effects on the cardiac rhythm and on hemodynamics were evaluated electrocardiographically, by recording the pressure and flow of the blood. Organs were removed within a period of 5 min after death. Three tissue samples each were taken for the right ventricle from the anterior wall of the heart and for the left one from the posterior wall of the heart. Samples of infarcted regions were obtained exclusively from the anterior wall of the left ventricle. The material to be examined was kept in a state of deep freeze until analytical processing. For this, samples were lyophilized and subsequently incinerated in a wet process, in order to avoid contamination, by means of a mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid. Determination of trace elements was effected by means of atomic absorption.
Results No significant differences were noted when comparing the Cd, Co, and Cr concentrations in topographically different samples from non-infarcted hearts. For this purpose, the mean values of the trace element concentrations in 18 laboratory animals were used. In the course of the animal tests, one animal was lost because of a nondefibrillizable ventricular fibrillation and another from an electrically induced ventricular fibrillation when attempting an electrocoagulation of the RIVA. The results obtained from tests carried out on 25 hearts of saughterhouse pigs were used for "establishing standard values." Results obtained by us tally well with the findings quoted in the relevant literature (1, 4, 9). The elements examined were established in non-infarcted/infarcted myocardium (in Ixg/g dry weight) in the following concentrations and with the percent differences mentioned, i.e., Table 1.
SHORT COMMUNICATION Cadmium, Cobalt, Chromium, and Experimental Myocardial Infarction HANS-JOACHIM PETERS,*t HEINZ KOHLER, HANS-JOACHIM DUCK, KURT RUDOLF G~)NTHER, AND H A N S P A N K A U
Medical Clinic of the Medical Department of Karl Marx University, Leipzig, German Democratic Republic Received January 15, 1982; Accepted March 26, 1982
Abstract In the case of experimental heart muscle infarction, the infarcted tissue of 18 pigs had a cadmium content of 0.38 I~g/g dry weight and a cobalt content of 0.45 Ixg/g dry weight. In 25 non-infarcted pig hearts, the cadmium concentration amounted to 0.27 txg/g dry weight and the cobalt concentration to 0.37 Ixg/g dry weight. Thus, as far as the infarcted heart muscle tissue is concerned, there is a highly significant increase in the cadmium content (p < 0.01) and a significant increase in cobalt content (p < 0.05) compared to a non-infarcted heart. No differences were established with regard to chromium concentrations. Index Entries: Myocardial infarction, and trace elements; atomic absorption, of trace elements; infarction, myocardial, and trace elements; cadmium, and myocardial infarction; cobalt, and myocardial infarction,chromium, and myocardial infarction.
Carroll has shown that in 28 US cities there is a distinct correlation between the cadmium content of the air and the mortality rates in heart disease, with the exception of those of a rheumatoid character. In this respect, there was, apart from zinc, no connection with other indices of contamination of the air and of these heart diseases. The investigation was performed on autopsy cases with myocardial infarction as the cause of death, employing neutron activation analysis, ion exchange, and gamma spectrometry. Wester found that, in comparison with the undamaged heart "Author's address: Dr. rer. nat. H. J. Peters, Medizinische Klinik der Karl-Marx-Universit/it, DDR-7olo Leipzig, Johannisallee 32, DDR. 9 1982 by The Humana Press Inc. All rights of any nature whatsoever reserved. 01634984/82/6900-0241 $02.00
241
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muscle tissue, there was evidence of a reduction in the cobalt content of the damaged myocardial regions. Further reference to the trace elements cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), and chromium (Cr) and to the incidence of cardiovascular diseases has also been made by other authors (2, 3, 5-8, 10-12). We have analyzed the elements mentioned above in both infarcted and non-infarcted heart muscle tissue of laboratory animals.
Materials and Methods The laboratory animals used were 20 domesticated pigs weighing from 25 to 40 kg. Following orotracheal intubation, the muscle-relaxed animals were operated on using nitrous oxide/oxygen anesthesia (N20/O2) with additions of halothane and ether. After thoracotomy, flow transducers were placed around the aorta abdominalis, the arteria carotis communis, and the right and left coronary arteries. Pressure in the left ventricle was measured with the catheter-tip manometer, in the right ventricle with the fluid-filled catheter. The myocardial infarction was induced by a ligature of the ramus interventricularis anterior (RIVA) at the passage between the middle and distal thirds. Effects on the cardiac rhythm and on hemodynamics were evaluated electrocardiographically, by recording the pressure and flow of the blood. Organs were removed within a period of 5 min after death. Three tissue samples each were taken for the right ventricle from the anterior wall of the heart and for the left one from the posterior wall of the heart. Samples of infarcted regions were obtained exclusively from the anterior wall of the left ventricle. The material to be examined was kept in a state of deep freeze until analytical processing. For this, samples were lyophilized and subsequently incinerated in a wet process, in order to avoid contamination, by means of a mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid. Determination of trace elements was effected by means of atomic absorption.
Results No significant differences were noted when comparing the Cd, Co, and Cr concentrations in topographically different samples from non-infarcted hearts. For this purpose, the mean values of the trace element concentrations in 18 laboratory animals were used. In the course of the animal tests, one animal was lost because of a nondefibrillizable ventricular fibrillation and another from an electrically induced ventricular fibrillation when attempting an electrocoagulation of the RIVA. The results obtained from tests carried out on 25 hearts of saughterhouse pigs were used for "establishing standard values." Results obtained by us tally well with the findings quoted in the relevant literature (1, 4, 9). The elements examined were established in non-infarcted/infarcted myocardium (in Ixg/g dry weight) in the following concentrations and with the percent differences mentioned, i.e., Table 1.
muscle tissue, there was evidence of a reduction in the cobalt content of the damaged myocardial regions. Further reference to the trace elements cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), and chromium (Cr) and to the incidence of cardiovascular diseases has also been made by other authors (2, 3, 5-8, 10-12). We have analyzed the elements mentioned above in both infarcted and non-infarcted heart muscle tissue of laboratory animals.
Materials and Methods The laboratory animals used were 20 domesticated pigs weighing from 25 to 40 kg. Following orotracheal intubation, the muscle-relaxed animals were operated on using nitrous oxide/oxygen anesthesia (N20/O2) with additions of halothane and ether. After thoracotomy, flow transducers were placed around the aorta abdominalis, the arteria carotis communis, and the right and left coronary arteries. Pressure in the left ventricle was measured with the catheter-tip manometer, in the right ventricle with the fluid-filled catheter. The myocardial infarction was induced by a ligature of the ramus interventricularis anterior (RIVA) at the passage between the middle and distal thirds. Effects on the cardiac rhythm and on hemodynamics were evaluated electrocardiographically, by recording the pressure and flow of the blood. Organs were removed within a period of 5 min after death. Three tissue samples each were taken for the right ventricle from the anterior wall of the heart and for the left one from the posterior wall of the heart. Samples of infarcted regions were obtained exclusively from the anterior wall of the left ventricle. The material to be examined was kept in a state of deep freeze until analytical processing. For this, samples were lyophilized and subsequently incinerated in a wet process, in order to avoid contamination, by means of a mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid. Determination of trace elements was effected by means of atomic absorption.
Results No significant differences were noted when comparing the Cd, Co, and Cr concentrations in topographically different samples from non-infarcted hearts. For this purpose, the mean values of the trace element concentrations in 18 laboratory animals were used. In the course of the animal tests, one animal was lost because of a nondefibrillizable ventricular fibrillation and another from an electrically induced ventricular fibrillation when attempting an electrocoagulation of the RIVA. The results obtained from tests carried out on 25 hearts of saughterhouse pigs were used for "establishing standard values." Results obtained by us tally well with the findings quoted in the relevant literature (1, 4, 9). The elements examined were established in non-infarcted/infarcted myocardium (in Ixg/g dry weight) in the following concentrations and with the percent differences mentioned, i.e., Table 1.
