Correlation between Myocardial Dysfunction and Perfusion Impairment in Diabetic Rats with Velocity Vector Imaging and Myocardial Contrast Echocardiography

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether myocardial systolic dysfunction and perfusion impairment occur in diabetic rats, and to assess their relationship using velocity vector imaging (VVI) and myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE). Forty-six rats were randomly divided into either control or the diabetes mellitus (DM) groups. DM was induced by intraperitoneal administration of streptozotocin. Twelve weeks later, 39 survival rats underwent VVI and MCE in short-axis view at the middle level of the left ventricle, both at rest and after dipyridamole stress. VVI-derived contractile parameters included peak systolic velocity (Vs ), circumferential strain (εc ), strain rate (SRc ), and their reserves. MCE-derived perfusion parameters consisted of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR). At rest, SRc in the DM group was significantly lower than in the control group, Vs , εc , and MBF did not differ significantly between groups. After dipyridamole stress, all VVI parameters and their reserves in the DM group were significantly lower than those in the control group, MBF and MFR were substantially lower than those in the control group, too. Meanwhile, significant correlations between VVI parameter reserves and MFR were observed in the DM group. Both myocardial systolic function and perfusion were impaired in DM rats. Decreased MFR could be an important contributor to the reduction in myocardial contractile reserve.