Aims: Acute ischemia is a major cause of sudden arrhythmic death, further promoted by potassium current blockers. Macro-reentry around the ischemic region and early afterdepolarizations (EADs) caused by electrotonic current have been suggested as potential mechanisms in animal and isolated cell studies. However, ventricular and human-specific arrhythmia mechanisms and their modulation by repolarization reserve remain unclear. The goal of this paper is to unravel multiscale mechanisms underlying the modulation of arrhythmic risk by potassium current (IKr) block in human ventricles with acute regional ischemia.
Methods And Results: A human ventricular biophysically-detailed model, with acute regional ischemia is constructed by integrating experimental knowledge on the electrophysiological ionic alterations caused by coronary occlusion. Arrhythmic risk is evaluated by determining the vulnerable window (VW) for reentry following ectopy at the ischemic border zone. Macro-reentry around the ischemic region is the main reentrant mechanism in the ischemic human ventricle with increased repolarization reserve due to the ATP-sensitive potassium current (IK(ATP)) activation. Prolongation of refractoriness by 4% caused by 30% IKr reduction counteracts the establishment of macro-reentry and reduces the VW for reentry (by 23.5%). However, a further decrease in repolarization reserve (50% IKr reduction) is less anti-arrhythmic despite further prolongation of refractoriness. This is due to the establishment of transmural reentry enabled by electrotonically-triggered EADs in the ischemic border zone. EADs are produced by L-type calcium current (ICaL) reactivation due to prolonged low amplitude electrotonic current injected during the repolarization phase.
Conclusions: Electrotonically-triggered EADs are identified as a potential mechanism facilitating intramural reentry in a regionally-ischemic human ventricles model with reduced repolarization reserve.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2016.01.008 | DOI Listing |
Physiol Rep
November 2024
Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma (Italy) - Parco Area Delle Scienze, Parma, Italy.
The waveform of ventricular action potential (AP) is a key determinant of the cardiac cycle, a marker of beating pathophysiology, and a target for anti-arrhythmic drug design. The information contained in the waveform, though, is limited to the actual dynamics of the AP under consideration. By measuring quasi-instantaneous current-voltage relationships during repolarization, I propose a three-dimensional representation of the ventricular AP which includes potential dynamic responses that the beat can show when electrically perturbed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The pathophysiological role of the small conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels in human ventricular myocytes remains unclear. Experimental studies have reported upregulation of in pathological states, potentially contributing to ventricular arrhythmias. In heart failure (HF) patients, the upregulation of SK channels could be an adaptive physiological response to shorten the action potential duration (APD) under conditions of reduced repolarization reserve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol
December 2024
Children's National Heart Institute, Children's National Hospital, Washington, District of Columbia, United States.
Nearly 1% of babies are born with congenital heart disease-many of whom will require heart surgery within the first few years of life. A detailed understanding of cardiac maturation can help to expand our knowledge on cardiac diseases that develop during gestation, identify age-appropriate drug therapies, and inform clinical care decisions related to surgical repair and postoperative management. Yet, to date, our knowledge of the temporal changes that cardiomyocytes undergo during postnatal development is limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmacology
September 2024
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Introduction: Citrus juice has been shown to cause QT prolongation in electrocardiograms of healthy volunteers, and naringenin, a major flavonoid found in citrus juice, has been identified as the potent inhibitor of human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG) channels as the cause of QT prolongation. Inhibition of HERG channels and prolongation of QT interval by antipsychotic drugs such as haloperidol, chlorpromazine, and clozapine have also been shown. However, naringenin's effect on HERG channel function in conjunction with antipsychotic medications has not been investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pharmacol Sci
October 2024
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University, 5-21-16 Omori-nishi, Ota-ku, Tokyo, 143-8540, Japan. Electronic address:
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