Angiotensin II decreases spontaneous firing rate of guinea-pig sino-atrial node cells.

Angiotensin II (Ang II) plays an important role in the regulation of cardiac function, but its electrophysiological effects on sino-atrial (SA) node are not well understood. In this study, the immediate effect of Ang II on action potentials and ionic currents were investigated by using whole-cell patch-clamps in single guinea-pig SA node pacemaker cells. We demonstrated that Ang II exerted a negative effect on spontaneous firing rate, with a concomitant reduction in the slope of diastolic depolarization.