Can a single low-intensity premature stimulus induce ventricular arrhythmias in the normal heart?

Previously, we observed that a single low-intensity premature ventricular stimulation could occasionally induce spontaneous ectopic beats in normal rat hearts. Possible hypothesis for the arrhythmia is that a premature beat can encounter a zone of conduction block to initiate reentry. However, enhanced dispersion of repolarization, a necessary condition for initiation of reentry, is unlikely to be present in normal myocardium. Thus, the main objective of the present study was to perform detailed pace mapping measurements in normal ventricular myocardium with a view to identify pacing sites and critical coupling intervals which could induce spontaneous ectopic beats and to characterize the reentrant circuits

Arrhythmia susceptibility in senescent rat hearts

Cardiovascular disease increases with age as well as alterations of cardiac electrophysiological properties, but a detailed knowledge about changes in cardiac electrophysiology relevant to arrhythmogenesis in the elderly is relatively lacking. The aim of this study was to determine specific age-related changes in electrophysiological properties of the ventricles which can be related to a structural-functional arrhythmogenic substrate. Multiple epicardial electrograms were recorded on the ventricular surface of in vivo control and aged rats, while arrhythmia vulnerability was investigated by premature stimulation protocols. Single or multiple ectopic beats and sustained ventricular arrhythmias were frequently induced in aged but not in control hearts. Abnormal ventricular activation patterns during sinus rhythm and unchanged conduction velocity during point stimulation in aged hearts suggest the occurrence of impaired impulse conduction through the distal Purkinje system that might create a potential reentry substrate

Arrhythmia susceptibility in senescent rat hearts

Cardiovascular disease increases with age as well as alterations of cardiac electrophysiological properties, but a detailed knowledge about changes in cardiac electrophysiology relevant to arrhythmogenesis in the elderly is relatively lacking. The aim of this study was to determine specific age-related changes in electrophysiological properties of the ventricles which can be related to a structural-functional arrhythmogenic substrate. Multiple epicardial electrograms were recorded on the ventricular surface of in vivo control and aged rats, while arrhythmia vulnerability was investigated by premature stimulation protocols. Single or multiple ectopic beats and sustained ventricular arrhythmias were frequently induced in aged but not in control hearts. Abnormal ventricular activation patterns during sinus rhythm and unchanged conduction velocity during point stimulation in aged hearts suggest the occurrence of impaired impulse conduction through the distal Purkinje system that might create a potential reentry substrate

Ca2+ uptake by the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase in rat microvascular endothelial cells

In non-excitable cells, many agonists increase the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) by inducing an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-mediated Ca2+ release from the intracellular stores. Ca2+ influx from the extracellular medium may then sustain the Ca2+ signal. [Ca2+]i recovers its resting level as a consequence of Ca2+-removing mechanisms, i.e. plasma-membrane Ca2+-ATPase (PMCA) pump, Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) and sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) pump. In a study performed in pancreatic acinar cells, evidence has been provided suggesting that, during the decay phase of the agonist-evoked Ca2+ transients, the Ca2+ concentration within the intracellular stores remains essentially constant [Mogami, Tepikin and Petersen (1998) EMBO J. 17, 435-442]. It was therefore hypothesized that, in such a situation, intracellular Ca2+ is not only picked up by the SERCA pump, but is also newly released through IP3-sensitive Ca2+ channels, with the balance between these two processes being approximately null. The main aim of the present work was to test this hypothesis by a different experimental approach. Using cardiac microvascular endothelial cells, we found that inhibition of the SERCA pump has no effect on the time course of agonist-evoked Ca2+ transients. This result was not due to a low capacity of the SERCA pump since, after agonist removal, this pump proved to be very powerful in clearing the excess of intracellular Ca2+. We showed further that: (i) in order to avoid a rapid removal of Ca2+ by the SERCA pump, continuous IP3 production appears to be required throughout all of the decay phase of the Ca2+ transient; and (ii) Ca2+ picked up by the SERCA pump can be fully and immediately released by agonist application. All these results support the model of Mogami, Tepikin and Petersen [(1998) EMBO J. 17, 435-442]. Since the SERCA pump did not appear to be involved in shaping the decay phase of the agonist-evoked Ca2+ transient, we inhibited the PMCA pump with carboxyeosin, and NCX with benzamil and by removing extracellular Na+. The results indicate that, during the decay phase of the agonist-evoked Ca2+ transient, the intracellular Ca2+ is removed by both the PMCA pump and NCX. Finally, we provide evidence indicating that mitochondria have no role in clearing intracellular Ca2+ during agonist-evoked Ca2+ transients