A Functional and Ultrastructural Analysis of Experimental Diabetic Rat Myocardium: Manifestation of a Cardiomyopathy

The effects of experimental diabetes on cardiac function and ultrastructure were studied in rats that had been diabetic for 6-24 wk. Experimental diabetes was produced by the intravenous (i.v.) injection of 65 mg/kg streptozocin (STZ) into rats 42-43 days old. Diabetic rat hearts perfused at 15 cm H2O on the working heart apparatus demonstrated depressed cardiac function (i.e., lower left ventricular pressure and +/- dP/dt) at 6, 12, and 24 wk of diabetes. Electron microscopic analysis of ventricular myocardium revealed increased lipid deposition from 6 to 24 wk of diabetes and progressive deterioration of the myocardial cell integrity at 12 and 24 wk of diabetes. This deterioration was characterized by loss of contractile protein, vacuolization (swollen sarcoplasmic reticulum), myelin formations, myocytolysis, and contracture bands. These alterations paralleled the depression of cardiac function at 12 and 24 wk of diabetes. There was, however, depressed function at 6 wk of diabetes but no observable alterations in myocardial ultrastructure. Therefore, experimental diabetes produced ultrastructural alterations in the rat heart that manifested themselves only after a demonstrable depression in cardiac function.