Alcohol-induced congestive cardiomyopathy: An animal model

In an effort to determine the effect of ethanol ingestion on myocardial function in the domestic turkey, a group of Nicholas birds were fed 5% ethanol (25% of calories) for the first 56 days of life and compared with control turkeys. At 28 and 56 days, noninvasive determination of the percentage change in left ventricular diameter, left ventricular systolic time interval, systemic blood pressure, and heart rate were done in each group. In addition, Ca²⁺ transport of the isolated cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum and Na⁺, K⁺-stimulated ATPase activity of isolated cardiac sarcolemma were determined in control and alcohol fed birds at 28 and 56 days. Combined ventricular weight.body weight^-1 was also determined at each age in both groups. At both 28 and 56 days the percentage change in left ventricular diameter for the alcohol fed turkeys was reduced to 65% of the control value (P < 0.01). In addition, the left ventricular systolic time interval of the alcohol birds was increased at both 28 days, 0.51 ± 0.06 (P < 0.05), and 56 days, 0.62 ± 0.06 (P < 0.01), compared with the controls, 0.46 ± 0.02, and 0.51 ± 0.04. Combined ventricular weight.body weight^-1 was also increased by 25% in the alcohol turkeys when compared with controls at both 28 and 56 days (P < 0.01) while heart rate and systemic arterial blood pressure were not different between the two groups at 28 and 56 days (P > 0.10). Ca²⁺ transport studies of the isolated cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum revealed depressed Ca²⁺ uptake to 76% of the control values at both ages (P < 0.01) and Ca²⁺ binding to 70 and 75% of control values at 28 and 56 days (P < 0.01). Ca²⁺-stimulated ATPase of the isolated cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum was not different between the two groups at either 28 or 56 days (P > 0.10). Na⁺, K⁺-stimulated ATPase levels of the isolated cardiac sarcolemma was also similar in each group of turkeys at 28 days. However, at 56 days, Na⁺, K⁺-stimulated ATPase was reduced to 50% of the value obtained in the control birds (P < 0.01). The findings of this study document that the domestic Nicholas turkey develops congestive cardiomyopathy secondary to the ingestion of a moderate quantity of ethanol over a short period of time. The physiological, morphological, and biochemical data are comparative to that found in man with alcoholic cardiomyopathy and suggests that this animal model may be useful in the study of the spectrum of this cardiac disease.