Significance of the hexose monophosphate shunt in experimentally induced cardiac hypertrophy.

1. In three models of cardiac hypertrophy in rats (aortic constriction, application of a single dose of isoproterenol and daily injections of triiodothyronine) the biosynthesis of myocardial adenine nucleotides was enhanced. 2. In hypertrophying hearts due to aortic constriction and isoproterenol application, the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and the available pool of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate were increased indicating a stimulation of the hexose monophosphate shunt. In triiodothyronine-treated animals only the cardiac pool of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate turned out to be elevated. 3. In all three models of cardiac hypertrophy, the enhancement of myocardial adenine nucleotide biosynthesis was exaggerated by ribose. It thus appears that the 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate pool is the limiting factor for the increase of adenine nucleotide biosynthesis under these conditions. 4. Long-term i.v. infusion of ribose (200 mg/kg/h) in isoproterenol-treated rats prevented the decrease of the cardiac ATP concentration induced by isoproterenol. However, the isoproterenol-induced stimulation of total cardiac protein synthesis was not altered, suggesting that the ATP decline may not be the trigger for stimulating protein synthesis in this model of myocardial hypertrophy.