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Biological Research For Nursing
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Sex Differences in the Response of Rat Heart Ventricle to Calcium

Dorie W. Schwertz, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAHA

Medical Surgical Nursing, Schwertz{at}uic.edu

Jenny M. Beck, BS

College of Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Jill M. Kowalski, BS, MS

College of Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago

James D. Ross, BA

College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Calcium (Ca 2+ ) is a key mediator of myocardial function. Calcium regulates contraction, and disruption of myocellular Ca 2+ handling plays a role in cardiac pathologies such as arrhythmias and heart failure. This investigation examines sex differences in sensitivity of the contractile proteins to Ca 2+ and myofibrillar Ca 2+ delivery in the ventricular myocardium. Sensitivity of contractile proteins to Ca 2+ was measured in weight-matched male and female Sprague-Dawley rats using the skinned ventricular papillary muscle fiber and Ca 2+ -stimulated Mg 2+ -dependent adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity methodologies. Calcium delivery was examined by measuring the contractile response to a range of extracellular Ca 2+ concentrations in isolated ventricular myocytes, papillary muscle, and the isolated perfused whole heart. Findings from studies in the whole heart suggest that at a fixed preload, the male left ventricle generates more pressure than a female ventricle over a range of extracellular Ca 2+ concentrations. In contrast, results from myocyte and papillary muscle studies suggest that females require less extracellular Ca 2+ to elicit a similar contractile response. Results obtained from the 2 methods used to determine sex differences in Ca 2+ sensitivity were equivocal. Further studies are required to elucidate sex differences in myocardial Ca 2+ handling and the reasons for disparate results in different heart muscle preparations. The results of these studies will lead to the design of sex-optimized therapeutic interventions for cardiac disease.

Key Words: sex difference • heart • myocyte • papillary • calcium • calcium sensitivity • force • contraction • skinned fibers • myofibrillar ATPase • rat

Biological Research For Nursing, Vol. 5, No. 4, 286-298 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1099800403262615
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