Morphometric Study of Ventricular Myocardial Cells in the Bat (iPipistrellus pipistrellus/i), Hamster (iMesocricetus auratus/i) and Wistar Rat

摘要

A comparative morphometric study of ventricular myocardial cells of the West African insect-eating bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus the hamster and the rat revealed significant differences in volume fractions of mitochondria, myofibrils, lipid bodies and T tubules. In the cells of the bat, mitochondria constitute 35 of cytoplasmic volume compared with 29 and 30 in the hamster and rat, respectively. Notably, crista density is much higher in the bat cells (3.58 × 105 cm–1) than in those of the hamster (2.59 × 105 cm–1) and of the rat (2.48 × 105 cm–1). Myofibril concentration is 40 in the bat, 53 in the hamster and 55 in the rat. There is greater numerical density of lipid bodies in the bat (212.27 × 109 cm–3) than in the hamster (139.20 × 109 cm–3) and in the rat (114.00 × 109 cm–3). The volume occupied by T tubules is 0.02 in the bat and hamster, and 0.009 in the rat. These differences suggest structural design for efficient metabolic activity in the bat which, among mammals, has high e