A computational view of electrophysiological properties under different atrial fibrosis conditions

Author(s):  
Juan P. Ugarte ◽  
Catalina Tobón ◽  
José António Tenreiro Machado
2014 ◽  
Vol 115 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahek Mirza ◽  
Farhan Rizvi ◽  
Melissa Albrecht ◽  
Anton Strunets ◽  
Larisa Emelyanova ◽  
...  

Introduction: Atrial fibrosis alters myocardial electrophysiological properties, increasing susceptibility to postoperative atrial fibrillation (PoAF); however, its estimation is problematic. We hypothesized that a noninvasive approach using history of AF (HxAF), LA mechanics and serum biomarkers of collagen turnover provides a surrogate for the extent of interstitial atrial fibrosis to identify patients at risk for PoAF. Methods: In patients undergoing cardiac surgery from April-Dec 2013, concentrations of biomarkers reflecting collagen synthesis/degradation and extracellular matrix remodeling were determined in serum from preoperative blood using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and echocardiographic evaluation was performed using M-mode, 2D, Doppler and 3D speckle tracking. Results: Of 66 patients (68 ±11 y, 67% men), 15 had HxAF and 11 of 51 with no HxAF (22%) developed new onset PoAF. In patients with HxAF, biomarkers for collagen turnover were elevated (Fig A) and correlated with a reduction in LA ejection fraction and global and regional relaxation of the LA wall (p=0.01, Fig B). In patients with no HxAF, procollagen type III (PIIINP) was significantly different in those who developed PoAF (p=0.01) and correlated with reduction in contractility in the posterior LA roof (p=<0.001) with a prolonged time to peak end-diastolic volume (p=0.03). LA size or ventricular structure and function were not different between groups. Conclusion: Surrogate serum and imaging biomarkers correlate with the substrate abnormality that promotes AF. These results need to be validated in larger cohorts to assess the power of these parameters in predicting new onset PoAF.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 765-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexios S. Antonopoulos ◽  
Athina Goliopoulou ◽  
Evangelos Oikonomou ◽  
Sotiris Tsalamandris ◽  
Georgios-Angelos Papamikroulis ◽  
...  

Background: Myocardial redox state is a critical determinant of atrial biology, regulating cardiomyocyte apoptosis, ion channel function, and cardiac hypertrophy/fibrosis and function. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the targeting of atrial redox state is a rational therapeutic strategy for atrial fibrillation prevention. Objective: To review the role of atrial redox state and anti-oxidant therapies in atrial fibrillation. Method: Published literature in Medline was searched for experimental and clinical evidence linking myocardial redox state with atrial fibrillation pathogenesis as well as studies looking into the role of redoxtargeting therapies in the prevention of atrial fibrillation. Results: Data from animal models have shown that altered myocardial nitroso-redox balance and NADPH oxidases activity are causally involved in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation. Similarly experimental animal data supports that increased reactive oxygen / nitrogen species formation in the atrial tissue is associated with altered electrophysiological properties of atrial myocytes and electrical remodeling, favoring atrial fibrillation development. In humans, randomized clinical studies using redox-related therapeutic approaches (e.g. statins or antioxidant agents) have not documented any benefits in the prevention of atrial fibrillation development (mainly post-operative atrial fibrillation risk). Conclusion: Despite strong experimental and translational data supporting the role of atrial redox state in atrial fibrillation pathogenesis, such mechanistic evidence has not been translated to clinical benefits in atrial fibrillation risk in randomized clinical studies using redox-related therapies.


Author(s):  
Zsuzsanna Kis ◽  
Astrid Amanda Hendriks ◽  
Taulant Muka ◽  
Wichor M. Bramer ◽  
Istvan Kovacs ◽  
...  

Introduction: Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is associated with remodeling of the atrial tissue, which leads to fibrosis that can contribute to the initiation and maintenance of AF. Delayed- Enhanced Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (DE-CMR) imaging for atrial wall fibrosis detection was used in several studies to guide AF ablation. The aim of present study was to systematically review the literature on the role of atrial fibrosis detected by DE-CMR imaging on AF ablation outcome. Methods: Eight bibliographic electronic databases were searched to identify all published relevant studies until 21st of March, 2016. Search of the scientific literature was performed for studies describing DE-CMR imaging on atrial fibrosis in AF patients underwent Pulmonary Vein Isolation (PVI). Results: Of the 763 citations reviewed for eligibility, 5 articles (enrolling a total of 1040 patients) were included into the final analysis. The overall recurrence of AF ranged from 24.4 - 40.9% with median follow-up of 324 to 540 days after PVI. With less than 5-10% fibrosis in the atrial wall there was a maximum of 10% recurrence of AF after ablation. With more than 35% fibrosis in the atrial wall there was 86% recurrence of AF after ablation. Conclusion: Our analysis suggests that more extensive left atrial wall fibrosis prior ablation predicts the higher arrhythmia recurrence rate after PVI. The DE-CMR imaging modality seems to be a useful method for identifying the ideal candidate for catheter ablation. Our findings encourage wider usage of DE-CMR in distinct AF patients in a pre-ablation setting.


2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (6) ◽  
pp. 538-546
Author(s):  
Nancy Paniagua ◽  
Rocío Girón ◽  
Carlos Goicoechea ◽  
Mª Isabel Martín‐Fontelles ◽  
Ana Bagues

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugues Berry ◽  
Stéphane Genet

AbstractThe neurons of the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCNn) represent the main functional link between the cerebellar cortex and the rest of the central nervous system. Therefore, understanding the electrophysiological properties of DCNn is of fundamental importance to understand the overall functioning of the cerebellum. Experimental data suggest that DCNn can reversibly switch between two states: the firing of spikes (F state) and a stable depolarized state (SD state). We introduce a new biophysical model of the DCNn membrane electro-responsiveness to investigate how the interplay between the documented conductances identified in DCNn give rise to these states. In the model, the F state emerges as an isola of limit cycles, i.e. a closed loop of periodic solutions disconnected from the branch of SD fixed points. This bifurcation structure endows the model with the ability to reproduce the $\text{F}\to \text{SD}$ F → SD transition triggered by hyperpolarizing current pulses. The model also reproduces the $\text{F}\to \text{SD}$ F → SD transition induced by blocking Ca currents and ascribes this transition to the blocking of the high-threshold Ca current. The model suggests that intracellular current injections can trigger fully reversible $\text{F}\leftrightarrow \text{SD}$ F ↔ SD transitions. Investigation of low-dimension reduced models suggests that the voltage-dependent Na current is prominent for these dynamical features. Finally, simulations of the model suggest that physiological synaptic inputs may trigger $\text{F}\leftrightarrow \text{SD}$ F ↔ SD transitions. These transitions could explain the puzzling observation of positively correlated activities of connected Purkinje cells and DCNn despite the former inhibit the latter.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jann Harberts ◽  
Max Kusch ◽  
John O’Sullivan ◽  
Robert Zierold ◽  
Robert H. Blick

Though patch clamping at room temperature is a widely disseminated standard procedure in the electrophysiological community, it does not represent the biological system in mammals at around 37 °C. In order to better mimic the natural environment in electrophysiological studies, we present a custom-built, temperature-controlled patch clamp platform for upright microscopes, which can easily be adapted to any upright patch clamp setup independently, whether commercially available or home built. Our setup can both cool and heat the platform having only small temperature variations of less than 0.5 °C. We demonstrate our setup with patch clamp measurements at 36 °C on Jurkat T lymphocytes and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons. Passive membrane parameters and characteristic electrophysiological properties, such as the gating properties of voltage-gated ion channels and the firing of action potentials, are compared to measurements at room temperature. We observe that many processes that are not explicitly considered as temperature dependent show changes with temperature. Thus, we believe in the need of a temperature control in patch clamp measurements if improved physiological conditions are required. Furthermore, we advise researchers to only compare electrophysiological results directly that have been measured at similar temperatures since small variations in cellular properties might be caused by temperature alterations.


1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 1512-1528 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hernández-Pineda ◽  
A. Chow ◽  
Y. Amarillo ◽  
H. Moreno ◽  
M. Saganich ◽  
...  

The globus pallidus plays central roles in the basal ganglia circuitry involved in movement control as well as in cognitive and emotional functions. There is therefore great interest in the anatomic and electrophysiological characterization of this nucleus. Most pallidal neurons are GABAergic projecting cells, a large fraction of which express the calcium binding protein parvalbumin (PV). Here we show that PV-containing pallidal neurons coexpress Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 K+ channel proteins and that both Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 antibodies coprecipitate both channel proteins from pallidal membrane extracts solubilized with nondenaturing detergents, suggesting that the two channel subunits are forming heteromeric channels. Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 channels have several unusual electrophysiological properties when expressed in heterologous expression systems and are thought to play special roles in neuronal excitability including facilitating sustained high-frequency firing in fast-spiking neurons such as interneurons in the cortex and the hippocampus. Electrophysiological analysis of freshly dissociated pallidal neurons demonstrates that these cells have a current that is nearly identical to the currents expressed by Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 proteins in heterologous expression systems, including activation at very depolarized membrane potentials (more positive than −10 mV) and very fast deactivation rates. These results suggest that the electrophysiological properties of native channels containing Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 proteins in pallidal neurons are not significantly affected by factors such as associated subunits or postranslational modifications that result in channels having different properties in heterologous expression systems and native neurons. Most neurons in the globus pallidus have been reported to fire sustained trains of action potentials at high-frequency. Kv3.1–Kv3.2 voltage-gated K+channels may play a role in helping maintain sustained high-frequency repetitive firing as they probably do in other neurons.


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