The effect of pressure or flow stress on right ventricular protein synthesis in the face of constant and restricted coronary perfusion.

Cardiac stress produced by hypertension or excess volume loading results in different types of hypertrophy. Elevated left ventricular pressure rapidly results in increased myocardial protein synthesis in vivo and in vitro, but such rapid alterations are not consistently seen in volume loading. The difference in response is difficult to clarify since it is not possible to effect alterations in left ventricular pressure or perfusion without profoundly affecting coronary perfusion. The present study describes cardiac protein synthesis in the right ventricle of the young guinea pig heart in vitro by utilizing a perfusion model in which the right ventricle could be stressed by elevations of pressure or volume loading in the presence of constant and restricted coronary perfusion. With coronary flow maintained at 4 ml/min per heart equivalent to 25 ml/min/g dry wt, an increase in right ventricular pressure from normal levels of 3 mm Hg to 11 mm Hg resulted in a 60 percent increase of myocardial incorporation of (14C)lysine into protein. However, with further increases of right ventricular pressure to 22 mm Hg, protein synthesis dropped back to normal levels. The falloff in protein synthesis was not due to decreased contractility, alterations in intracellular lysine pool specific activity, or alterations in distribution of coronary flow. a 60 percent increase in coronary perfusion was again associated with a similar response of protein synthesis to progressive elevations of pressure despite a rise in the ATP levels and a fall in lactate production. Thus, a deficiency of O2 did not entirely explain the decline of protein synthesis with maximal pressures. At all levels of coronary perfusion, volume loading for 3 h did not result in increased protein incorporation of (14C)lysine. The studies support a relationship between ventricular pressure and protein synthesis unrelated to coronary flow per se. A pressure receptor triggering protein synthesis within the ventricular wall is postulated. Such a relationship is not apparent in short-term volume loading in vitro.