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The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to investigate the feasibility and usefulness of cardiac microdialysis for the simultaneous estimation of regional cardiac interstitial fluid (ISF) adenosine (ADO) concentration and coronary blood flow (CBF); and 2) to determine the changes in the ISF levels of ADO and CBF during cardiac stimulation or regional myocardial ischemia. Cardiac microdialysis probes were implanted in the left ventricular myocardium of chloralose-urethan-anesthetized dogs and perfused with Krebs-Henseleit buffer. The concentration of ADO in the effluent dialysate was used as an index of intramyocardial ISF ADO concentration while local CBF was measured by H2 clearance via a platinum wire within the dialysis fiber. Dialysate ADO was elevated immediately after insertion of the microdialysis probe, declined rapidly in the first 20 min, stabilized by 60 min, and remained constant for 2 h. Based on the relationship in vitro and in vivo between microdialysis probe perfusion rate and dialysate ADO concentration, ISF ADO concentration within the left ventricular myocardium was estimated to be 0.9-1.3 microM. Dobutamine (10 micrograms.kg-1.min-1) infusion resulted in a 36% increase in CBF and a 2.5-fold increase in dialysate ADO (n = 9; P less than 0.05). Regional myocardial ischemia, induced by occlusion of the left anterior descending artery (LAD), caused a 13-fold increase in dialysate ADO in the LAD perfused myocardium (n = 9; P less than 0.05). These results are consistent with the ADO hypothesis and suggest that cardiac microdialysis provides a reliable technique for the sampling of regional intramyocardial ISF.

Little research has addressed patterns of family and health relationships that reflect both the scope and complexity of family life and the breadth and diversity of health. In the first of a series of articles, we describe the California Family Health Project, a study in which four large "domains" of family life (Structure/Organization, World View, Problem Solving, and Emotional Management) were mapped, described, and compared with a large battery of adult health measures. We first present a brief critical overview of the literature on family and health research, then explain our rationale, define our approach to the multivariate analysis of family and health data, and describe our sample of 225 community-based families. To prepare for analyses with the family variables, we next present descriptive data based on separate principal components analysis (PCA) and multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS) of 14 self-reported health scores for husbands and for wives. No grouping or clustering of health variables emerged for either husbands or wives in the PCAs. A two-dimensional MDS analysis for husbands and for wives displayed the health variables in a circular pattern in which no predominant descriptive dimension or group of discrete dimensions emerged. Consequently, we decided that all 14 health scores will be used in the analyses, with the family variables to follow.