Autoantibodies to glutamate receptor antigens in multiple sclerosis and Rasmussen's encephalitis.

Background: Glutamate and its specific ionotropic receptors, including N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors, are supposed to play an important role in neurodegeneration as well as neuronal regeneration. Although autoantibodies (aab) to glutamate receptors (GluR) have been identified in several neurologic diseases, including paraneoplastic encephalitis and Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE) with an increasing prevalence, the presence and role of anti-GluR aab in multiple sclerosis (MS) have not been studied yet.

Objectives And Methods: In this study, we tested the serum samples of 56 subjects, including patients with relapsing-remitting MS (n = 25), patients with RE (n = 8), and healthy donors (HD; n = 23), for anti-GluR aab by immunoblot analysis of a panel of recombinantly expressed GluR proteins, including GluN1, GluN2C, GluA3, GluK2, and GluD2.

Coxsackievirus B3 modulates cardiac ion channels.

Infections with coxsackieviruses of type B (CVBs), which are known to induce severe forms of acute and chronic myocarditis, are often accompanied by ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. The mechanisms underlying the development of virus-induced, life-threatening arrhythmias, which are phenotypically similar to those observed in patients having functionally impaired cardiac ion channels, remain, however, enigmatic. In the present study, we show, for the first time, modulating time-dependent effects of CVB3 on the cardiac ion channels KCNQ1, hERG1, and Cav1.

Low-output is not the cause of death of neonatal piglets early after cardiopulmonary bypass.

The mortality rate of neonatal piglets after heart surgery is high. Searching for a possible explanation for the death of neonatal piglets early after cardiopulmonary bypass, we analyzed hemodynamic parameters regarding survival and non-survival. Initially, 10 neonatal piglets (younger than 7 days) were connected to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

Overlapping cardiac phenotype associated with a familial mutation in the voltage sensor of the KCNQ1 channel.

Background: Cardiac action potential repolarisation is determined by K(+) currents including I(Ks). I(Ks) channels are heteromeric channels composed of KCNQ1 and KCNE E-subunits. Mutations in KCNQ1 are associated with sinus bradycardia, familial atrial fibrillation (fAF) and/or short QT syndrome as a result of gain-of-function, and long QT syndrome (LQTS) due to loss-of-function in the ventricles.

Myocardial contractility and relaxation after deep hypothermic circulatory arrest in a neonatal piglet model.

Cooling before circulatory arrest or ischemic arrest has been reported to influence myocardial performance in isolated neonatal hearts. The aim of the present study was to analyze indices of myocardial contractility and relaxation in an in vivo neonatal model after deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA). DHCA (18°C; DHCA group; n = 8) or mild hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass ([MH-CPB] 32°C; MH-CPB group; n = 10) was applied in newborn piglets.

Serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinases (SGK) regulate KCNQ1/KCNE potassium channels.

The stress reaction includes the release of stress hormones such as cortisol via the HPA axis4. One of the genes regulated by cortisol is the serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (SGK1) a stimulator of the slow outward potassium channel KCNQ1/KCNE1-one of the major mediators of cardiac repolarization. Apart from KCNE1, several other KCNE beta subunits including KCNE3 and KCNE5 have been detected at the mRNA level in cardiac tissue as well as in the inner ear and the gastro-intestinal tract.

Postoperative hemodynamics after cardiopulmonary bypass in survived newborn piglets.

Cardiac function and hemodynamics are frequently decreased during the first hours after heart surgery, resulting in inotropic support for treatment and prevention of further hemodynamic deterioration. The aim of this study was analysis of hemodynamics of neonatal piglets who survived early postoperative course after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and cardioplegic arrest without the use of inotropic drugs. Newborn piglets (younger than 7 days) were placed on mild hypothermic CPB (32 degrees C) for 180 minutes, including 90 minutes of cardioplegic arrest.

Long QT syndrome-associated mutations in KCNQ1 and KCNE1 subunits disrupt normal endosomal recycling of IKs channels.

Physical and emotional stress is accompanied by release of stress hormones such as the glucocorticoid cortisol. This hormone upregulates the serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase (SGK)1, which in turn stimulates I(Ks), a slow delayed rectifier potassium current that mediates cardiac action potential repolarization. Mutations in I(Ks) channel alpha (KCNQ1, KvLQT1, Kv7.

Miniaturized HIA microdiagonal pump as left ventricular assist device in a sheep model.

We evaluated the newly developed miniaturized HIA microdiagonal blood pump (MDP) as a continuous flow left ventricular assist device. In a sheep model (n = 6), the MDP was implanted through left lateral thoracotomy and placed paracorporeally with inflow conduit to left atrium and outflow conduit to descending aorta. The sheep were pumped at a mean flow rate of 2.