Abstract
For a further experimental study of the creatine changes in damaged heart muscle we have employed the method of Fleischer and Loeb 1 for the production of myocarditis. This involves the intravenous administration of caffeine or sparteine, followed in a few minutes by adrenalin intravenously.
Caffeine-sodio-benzoate (25 mg./kilo) was injected intravenously in the marginal ear vein of rabbits; after a wait of 3 minutes this was followed by the adrenalin (0.1 mg./kilo), given very slowly, taking 3 or 4 minutes for the injection. Some of the animals died within a few minutes. Of those that survived, 15-20% were found dead the following morning, with fluid in their pleural and pericardial cavities. A few more succumbed in the following days, but most of those alive 24 hours after the injection survived until sacrificed.
In a series of 69 rabbits the chemical changes have been followed at time intervals up to 31 days. The creatine content of the heart was determined by Myer's modification 2 of the method of Rose, Helmer and Chanutin; these values were reduced to terms of dried weight by drying one sample to a constant weight at 105°C. and calculating the percentage of solids.
Normal Values. The total creatine value for the normal rabbit determined on 25 comparable hearts, i. e., from animals 1200-1500 gm., was found to be 165 mg.% with a standard deviation of 14.7. The dried weight averaged 21.7% of the moist weight.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.