Progressive chronic heart failure slows the recovery of microvascular O2 pressures after contractions in the rat spinotrapezius muscle

Abstract

Chronic heart failure (CHF) induces muscle fiber-type specific alterations in skeletal muscle O2 delivery and utilization during metabolic transitions. As a result, the recovery of microvascular Po2 (PmvO2) is prolonged in slow-twitch skeletal muscle but not fast-twitch skeletal muscle in rats with CHF. We tested the hypothesis that CHF slows PmvO2 recovery in rat skeletal muscle of a mixed fiber-type analogous to human locomotory muscles and that the degree of slowing correlates with central indexes of heart failure. Healthy control [ n = 6, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP): 10 ± 1 mmHg], moderate CHF ( n = 6, LVEDP: 18 ± 2 mmHg), and severe CHF ( n = 4, LVEDP: 34 ± 2 mmHg) female Sprague-Dawley rats had their right spinotrapezius muscles (41% type I, 7% type IIa, and 52% type IIb and d/x) exposed, and PmvO2 was measured via phosphorescence quenching during 180 s of recovery from 180 s of electrically induced twitch contractions (1 Hz, 4–6 V). CHF progressively slowed the mean response time (MRT; the time to reach 63% of the overall dynamic response) of PmvO2 recovery (MRToff; control: 60.2 ± 6.9, moderate CHF: 72.8 ± 6.6, and severe CHF: 109.8 ± 6.6 s, P < 0.05 for all). MRToff correlated positively with central hemodynamic (LVEDP: r = 0.76, P < 0.01) and morphological (right ventricle-to-body weight ratio: r = 0.74, P < 0.01; and lung weight-to-body weight ratio: r = 0.79, P < 0.01) indexes of heart failure. The present investigation suggests that slowed PmvO2 kinetics during recovery in CHF constitutes a mechanistic link between impaired circulatory and metabolic recovery after contractions in CHF.