(Circulation. 1999;99:2261-2267.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.
Clinical Investigation and Reports |
From the Department of Radiology (H.J.L., B.C.S., J.D., A.d.R.) and Cardiology (H.P.B., A.v.d.L., E.E.v.d.W.), Leiden (The Netherlands) University Medical Center.
Correspondence to Hildo J. Lamb, Department of Radiology (1C2S), Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands. E-mail Lamb{at}RULLF2.Medfac.Leidenuniv.nl
| Abstract |
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Methods and ResultsEleven patients with hypertension and 13 age-matched healthy subjects were studied with magnetic resonance imaging at rest and with phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy at rest and during high-dose atropine-dobutamine stress. Hypertensive patients showed higher LV mass (98±28 g/m2) than healthy control subjects (73±13 g/m2, P<0.01). LV filling was impaired in patients, reflected by a decreased peak rate of wall thinning (PRWThn), E/A ratio, early peak filling rate, and early deceleration peak (all P<0.05), whereas systolic function was still normal. The myocardial phosphocreatine (PCr)/ATP ratio determined in patients at rest (1.20±0.18) and during stress (0.95±0.25) was lower than corresponding values obtained from healthy control subjects at rest (1.39±0.17, P<0.05) and during stress (1.16±0.18, P<0.05). The PCr/ATP ratio correlated significantly with PRWThn (r=-0.55, P<0.01), early deceleration peak (r=-0.56, P<0.01), and with the rate-pressure product (r=-0.53, P<0.001).
ConclusionsMyocardial HEP metabolism is altered in patients with hypertensive heart disease. In addition, there is an association between impaired LV diastolic function and altered myocardial HEP metabolism in humans. The level of myocardial PCr/ATP is most likely determined by the level of cardiac work load.
Key Words: magnetic resonance imaging spectroscopy hypertension diastole stress
| Introduction |
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Previous echocardiographic and radionuclide studies have shown impaired diastolic heart function in hypertension, even in the absence of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH),2 3 4 5 6 7 8 whereas systolic function is still preserved.2 3 4 7 8 Animal studies have shown that myocardial high-energy phosphate (HEP) metabolism is altered in hypertensive heart disease, in particular when LV mass is increased.9 10 11 12 Experimental work has suggested that there is a relation between diastolic dysfunction and altered myocardial creatine kinase kinetics.10
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a highly reliable technique for assessment of LV dimensions and systolic and diastolic function.13 14 Phosphorus-31 (31P) MR spectroscopy is a noninvasive, reproducible method to study myocardial HEP metabolism in vivo.15 16 17 18 The combination of functional and metabolic evaluation of the human heart in a single MR examination may ultimately provide a sensitive tool for early detection of changes in cardiac performance and myocardial viability.
A previous study19 showed that myocardial HEP metabolism of the normal human heart is altered at high work loads. A decrease in myocardial PCr/ATP was found when normal hearts were stressed severely on infusion of atropine-dobutamine (A-D). Acquisition of 31P-MR spectra during high-dose A-D infusion in patients with hypertensive heart disease may provide new pathophysiological insights in the disease.
Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was 2-fold: first, to test the hypothesis that myocardial HEP metabolism is altered in hypertensive heart disease and that this is associated with disturbances in cardiac function, especially diastolic dysfunction, and second, to determine the effects of severe pharmacological stress testing on myocardial HEP metabolism in patients with hypertensive heart disease.
| Methods |
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140 mm Hg) and/or
diastolic blood pressure (DBP) readings (
90
mm Hg)1 were included in the present study. Their
average untreated SBP and DBP were 179±27 mm Hg and 107±10
mm Hg, respectively, classified as stage III hypertension according to
the Fifth Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and
Treatment of High Blood Pressure.1 Patients were treated
with a variety of antihypertensive drugs, mainly ACE
inhibitors, calcium antagonists, and
ß-blockers. However, their blood pressures had not yet normalized at
the time of inclusion in the present study (Table 1
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Thirteen male control subjects were normal at clinical examination,
showed a normal ECG at rest, were not obese (see below), normotensive
(Table 1
), without a history of cardiovascular
disease, and without any complaints. The control subjects had no
ECG-based evidence of ischemia during bicycle exercise testing
(3.0±1.2-fold increase in rate-pressure product; RPP) and were
without anginal complaints.15 Their posttest likelihood
for CAD was<2.5%.20
The age of healthy subjects (53±7 years) and patients (59±10 years) was matched. Height was similar for control subjects (1.80±0.08 meters) and patients (1.79±0.07 meters). Body weight (86±9 kg) and body surface area (2.05±0.13 m2 of patients were higher (P<0.05) than corresponding values of healthy subjects (72±12 kg, 1.90±0.18 m2). Informed consent was obtained from all subjects before the examinations, and the study was approved by our institutional committee on human research.
MR Imaging
MR imaging studies were performed with the use of a standard
Philips 1.5-T ACS-NT15 MR system (Philips Medical Systems
International). The entire heart was imaged in the short-axis
orientation with breath-hold multishot echo-planar imaging as described
before.21 MR imaging velocity mapping with retrospective
ECG gating was performed to measure flow (expressed as mL/s) across the
mitral valve and through the ascending aorta.13 22 23
During the entire MR examination, SBP, DBP, and heart rate were
recorded every 2 minutes with a Dinamap sphygmomanometer
(Criticon). Image analysis24 was performed twice
on separate occasions by 1 observer with a minimal time interval of 7
days and by a second independent observer to determine intraobserver
and interobserver variability.14
Functional parameters were calculated as described previously.14 22 Peak rate of wall thickening and thinning were calculated as the maximal change in relative wall thickness/ms averaged for the LV circumference of a short-axis slice at two thirds of the LV long axis.25 Acceleration and deceleration peak values were calculated as the maximal change in mL/s (expressed as mL/s2) obtained from the velocity encoded MR imaging acquisitions.
31P-MR Spectroscopy and Statistical Analysis
Once the MR imaging examination at rest was completed, subjects
were studied with a Philips 1.5-T S15 MR system (Philips Medical
Systems International). A 100-mm-diameter surface coil was used to
acquire 31P-MR spectra of the LV anterior wall
with subjects in supine position. Volumes of interest were selected by
image-guided spectroscopy with 3D-ISIS.26 Other technical
details were similar as described before.17 19 After an
acquisition at rest, control subjects and patients were subjected to an
A-D stress test as described previously19 (Figure 1
). Blood pressures were recorded
every 2 minutes with a Dinamap sphygmomanometer (Criticon) and were not
allowed to exceed an SBP/DBP of 220/100 mm Hg in healthy control
subjects and 250/130 mm Hg in patients, although these levels
were never reached (Table 1
and Figure 1
).
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31P-MR spectra were quantified automatically in
the time domain and were corrected for partial saturation effects and
for the ATP contribution from blood with the use of methods described
in previous studies.17 19 As proposed in earlier
work,19 the ratio of the 2 resonance peaks in the spectral
region of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate served as a semiquantitative estimate
of myocardial inorganic phosphate (Pi-e) signal
intensity (Figure 2
). Paired and unpaired
2-tailed t tests and linear regression analysis were
applied when appropriate. A probability value of P<0.05 was
considered to be significant.
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| Results |
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Myocardial Metabolism
Hemodynamic parameters at rest and
during cardiac stress are presented in Table 1
. An
example of hemodynamic changes due to A-D stress in an
individual patient is given in Figure 1
. In patients at rest,
SBP, DBP, and RPP were higher than in control subjects
(P<0.01), but differences in SBP and RPP between patients
and control subjects disappeared during stress. This means that control
subjects and patients were stressed to an identical level of cardiac
work load.
Figure 2
shows an example of 31P-MR
spectra acquired from a patient at rest and during A-D stress. Table 1
and Figure 3
summarize the
metabolic parameters obtained at rest and
during stress. Myocardial PCr/ATP determined in patients was
significantly lower both at rest (1.20±0.18) and during stress
(0.95±0.25) compared with values obtained from healthy subjects at
rest (1.39±0.17, P<0.05) and during stress (1.16±0.18,
P<0.05). The observed decrease in myocardial PCr/ATP from
rest to stress in patients and control subjects was statistically
significant (P<0.01), whereas the percentile reduction did
not differ between patients (-21±18%) and control subjects
(-16±12%).
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The semiquantitative estimate of myocardial Pi
(Pi-e) determined in patients was higher both at
rest (1.76±0.45) and during stress (2.41±0.72) compared with values
obtained from healthy subjects at rest (1.43±0.26, P<0.05)
and during stress (1.92±0.39, P>0.05) (Table 1
,
Figure 3B
). The observed increase in myocardial
Pi-e from rest to stress in patients and control
subjects was statistically significant (P<0.01), whereas
the percentile increase did not differ significantly between patients
(47±46%) and control subjects (35±23%, P>0.05).
Values of myocardial PCr/ATP and Pi-e determined
at rest in patients were similar to values obtained in healthy subjects
during A-D infusion (Table 1
, Figure 3
). When rest and
stress data obtained from healthy subjects and patients were pooled, a
highly significant correlation was found between the level of cardiac
work load (RPP) and the myocardial PCr/ATP ratio
(r=-0.53, P<0.001) and between RPP and
myocardial Pi-e (r=0.51,
P<0.001).
Relation Between Function and Metabolism
Myocardial PCr/ATP acquired at rest was correlated with LV
diastolic function indexes determined at rest (Table 3
): peak rate of wall thinning (r=-0.55,
P<0.01, y=-0.284x- 0.066), early
peak filling rate (r=0.45, P<0.05,
y=271.529x+70.403), early acceleration peak
(r=0.42, P<0.05,
y=6.155x+0.224), and early deceleration peak
(r=-0.56, P<0.01,
y=-3.963x+1.507). However, myocardial PCr/ATP
was independent of measures of LV systolic function (Table 2
). Myocardial PCr/ATP at rest was also correlated with SBP
(r=-0.48, P<0.05) and DBP (r=-0.44,
P<0.05) but not with LV mass index, age, and body weight.
In addition, LV mass index correlated with SBP (r=0.71,
P<0.01), DBP (r=0.64, P<0.01), and
body weight (r=0.53, P<0.01).
| Discussion |
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Impairment of LV filling and the increased LV mass index suggest phenotypic alterations at the myocyte level of the hypertensive heart27 different from physiological hypertrophy as can be seen in elite athletes.23 28 In contrast to an increased cardiac load during part of the day as in athletes, hypertension causes a continuous pressure overload of the vascular system. Permanent cardiovascular overload causes myocyte stretch and increased angiotensin II concentrations in vascular and myocardial tissue29 that is believed to trigger "genetic reprogramming."27 This process promotes cell growth and extracellular matrix production, leading to an increase in myocardial mass and increased LV stiffness.
Myocardial Metabolism
The present results obtained at rest are in close agreement
with previous human and animal studies. It has been reported that the
myocardial PCr/ATP ratio determined at rest is subnormal when LV mass
is increased.11 12 16 18 30 31 32 Previous animal
studies9 10 12 33 that were specifically focused on heart
disease due to pressure overload showed essentially the same results as
presently found in humans. Even in the absence of evident LVH,
overloaded hearts showed abnormalities in myocardial HEP
metabolism.33 We are not aware of any human
studies that reported measurements of myocardial HEP
metabolism in relation to hypertensive heart disease.
The presently observed decrease in myocardial PCr/ATP in the
hypertensive heart at rest might be explained, at least partly, by the
previously reported34 decrease in creatine kinase activity
and lower total creatine content in the hypertrophied human heart as
determined from biopsy samples. Observations by Ingwall et
al34 suggest that pressure overload
hypertrophy and ischemic heart disease bring about
alterations in the creatine kinase system through a common stimulus.
The presently observed changes in myocardial PCr/ATP and myocardial
Pi-e in hypertensive hearts at rest may
represent an adaptation toward demand ischemia similar
to the normal human heart during severe pharmacological stress (Table 1
and Figure 3
).
Cardiac Stress Testing
The presently observed cardiac stressinduced decrease in
myocardial PCr/ATP was similar for normal hearts and hypertensive
hearts with increased LV mass, confirming results obtained in animal
studies.31 35 The correlations between RPP and myocardial
PCr/ATP and between RPP and myocardial Pi-e
suggest that myocardial HEP metabolism is a flexible system
capable to adapt to a severe increase in cardiac work load. Even if the
energy reserve equilibrium is already at a lower level at rest, as it
is in hearts of patients with hypertensive heart disease, it further
declines with increasing stress. The decrease in myocardial PCr/ATP
observed during stress in healthy subjects, at rest in patients, and an
even more severe decrease during stress in patients (Figure 3A
)
suggests a close relation between the myocardial PCr/ATP ratio and the
level of cardiac work load. This knowledge could be of clinical value
when patients are examined at rest only, as the value of myocardial
PCr/ATP provides information on the severity of stress imposed on the
hypertensive heart to maintain global heart function at rest.
This gradual adaptation to increasing cardiac work load might also explain why the myocardial PCr/ATP ratio determined at rest in patients with ischemic heart disease is close to values obtained from control subjects and why this ratio decreases during increased cardiac work only.15 In mild ischemic heart disease there is no increased cardiac work load at rest because heart rate and blood pressures are normal, therefore global LV function is not affected. Only during cardiac stress the ischemic region poses a significant overload on the myocardium, which leads to an increased energy demand possibly related with global LV dysfunction.
The degree of stress imposed with high-dose A-D was substantial in the present study. Presently observed changes in myocardial HEP metabolism due to stress testing are not to be expected at more moderate levels of stress. In a previous report19 we showed that acquisitions in normal volunteers after a 15-minute recovery period yielded a PCr/ATP similar to its resting value, whereas the RPP was still 1.3 times its resting value. This was in agreement with the report by Weiss et al,15 who did not observe any change in myocardial PCr/ATP in the normal heart at that same stress level.
Relation Between Function and Metabolism
Several indicators of LV filling determined at rest show an
association with myocardial HEP metabolism at rest. These
results agree very well with the hypothesis previously postulated by
Osbakken et al10 that changes in myocardial creatine
kinase kinetics may contribute to diastolic dysfunction.
The biochemical mechanisms explaining the relation between myocardial
HEP metabolism and diastolic heart function
have not yet been elucidated. Ingwall et al34 calculated
that the phosphocreatine content in tissue with LVH is 4 times lower
than in normal myocardium. We hypothesize that the lower
phosphocreatine content, and a switch in substrate preference from
fatty acids to glucose,12 leads to lower levels of ATP at
the sarcomeres in hypertensive hearts, which is not compensated for by
increased mitochondrial ATP production. Lower cytosolic ATP
levels lead to impaired Ca2+ sequestration by the
sarcoplasmatic reticulum and impaired relaxation in
cardiomyocytes and may be responsible for
diastolic dysfunction in hypertensive
myocardium at the cellular level.5 36 37
Moreover, a recent study by Spindler et al,32 with the use of a mouse model of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, showed striking similarities with the present study. They concluded that changes in HEP content suggest that an energy-requiring process may contribute to the observed diastolic dysfunction, which is possibly related to a diastolic Ca2+ overload.
In previous studies in patients with hypertensive heart disease, correlations between the degree of hypertrophy and abnormalities of ventricular filling have been inconsistent.7 37 In the present study, no relation was found between LV mass (or LV mass index) and LV function parameters and between LV mass and myocardial HEP metabolism. A previous report showed that LVH can occur independent of cardiac overload. It was demonstrated that angiotensin IIinduced LVH in rats was independent of pressure overload, but that the occurrence of genetic reprogramming was dependent on pressure overload.38 In another study it was shown that specific polymorphisms of the ACE gene may cause LVH in the absence of cardiac pressure or volume overload.39 In addition, it was shown in the athlete heart that LVH alone is not associated with changes in LV function or myocardial HEP metabolism.23 28 Moreover, abnormal LV filling has been demonstrated in hypertensive patients without LVH.2 4 5 6 7 8 Therefore, it is not likely that LV mass is directly related to changes in myocardial function and myocardial HEP metabolism. LVH should be regarded as an epiphenomenon to cardiac overload and not as a primary factor causing abnormal LV filling.
Limitations and Future Considerations
Underlying CAD could not be excluded with complete certainty,
although none of the patients had evidence of CAD based on clinical
history, clinical examination, ECG, or wall motion analysis by
MR imaging. Moreover, hypertensive heart disease appears to be
associated with a myocardial phenotype other than
ischemic heart disease because in the former abnormalities in
metabolism are present at rest, whereas in the latter
exercise is needed to induce changes in the myocardial PCr/ATP
ratio.15
Patients were gradually withdrawn from ß-blockers 2 weeks before the MR examinations. The remaining ACE inhibitors and calcium antagonists were previously shown40 to have no effect on exercise capacity. Therefore it is not likely that the present results can be explained by effects of antihypertensive medication.
In the present study, a limited number of subjects were studied, mainly because of the long examination time needed for the combined MR imaging and 31P-MR spectroscopy examination and the severity of the A-D stress test. For the same and ethical reasons we had to choose between 31P-MRS or MR imaging during A-D stress. However, the sample size was sufficient to show statistically significant differences between healthy control subjects and patients and significant correlations between myocardial function and metabolism determined at rest. Technical progress may soon allow MR imaging and 31P-MR spectroscopy both at rest and during stress in the same comprehensive MR examination within a time period of 90 minutes.
In the present study we acquired the ratio of PCr over ATP as a measure of myocardial HEP metabolism. By using this ratio, a decrease in PCr due to an increase in cardiac work load may be underestimated because absolute amounts are not known. Furthermore, PCr/ATP ratios reported in the present study for the normal human heart at rest were in the lower range of previously reported values, which ranged from 0.9 to 2.1. In a previous report17 we extensively discussed this issue and concluded that the major difference is most likely caused by the lower saturation correction factor used in the present study.
Conclusions
Myocardial HEP metabolism is altered in patients with
hypertensive heart disease. In addition, the present study is the
first to provide evidence that there is an association between impaired
LV diastolic function and altered myocardial HEP
metabolism in humans. Furthermore, the subnormal myocardial
PCr/ATP and supernormal myocardial Pi-e in
hypertensive hearts at rest may represent a condition similar
to the normal human heart during severe cardiac stress. Therefore, the
level of myocardial PCr/ATP and Pi-e is most
likely determined by the level of cardiac work load.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received September 1, 1998; revision received January 22, 1999; accepted February 4, 1999.
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MHC403/+ mouse
model of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
J Clin Invest. 1998;101:17751783.[Medline]
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