Positive correlation between aortic valve pressure gradient and mitochondrial respiratory chain capacity in hypertrophied human left ventricle

Summary The effect of chronic left ventricular pressure overload on the activities of mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymes was investigated in myocardial biopsies from the left ventricular apex of 13 patients undergoing aortic valve replacement for aortic valve stenosis. Transvalvular pressure gradients measured by left-sided heart catheterization ranged from 52 to 100 mmHg. The specific activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme complexes I + III (antimycin A sensitive NADH cytochrome c oxidoreductase) and the myocardial concentrations of coenzyme Q₁₀ (CoQ₁₀) increased significantly (P < 0.05) with increasing aortic valve pressure gradient. In contrast, the specific activities of complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase), succinate dehydrogenase, and citrate synthase, a mitochondrial matrix enzyme, showed no significant correlation with the pressure gradient. Since (CoQ₁₀) is the rate-limiting compound of the activity of complexes 1+111 but not of cytochrome c oxidase, succinate dehydrogenase, or citrate synthase, these data suggest that the increase in the activity of complexes I+III is due to the increase in (CoQ₁₀) content.Abbreviations CoQ coenzyme Q - CoQ₉ coenzyme Q₉ - CoQ₁₀ coenzyme Q₁₀ - SDH succinate dehydrogenase - NCP noncollagen protein