Aminophylline affects the cardiac rat inward rectifier potassium current in a dual way

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public Institution(s). Main funding source(s): Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic Introduction Aminophylline, a bronchodilator used in clinical practice to treat namely severe astma attacks, often induces atrial fibrillation in patients. Modifications of the inward rectifier potassium current IK1 are known to play a role in the genesis of fibrillation. Purpose We aimed to investigate the effect of aminophylline at clinically-relevant concentrations between 3 and 100 µM on IK1 in isolated rat ventricular myocytes. Methods Experiments were performed by the whole cell patch clamp technique on enzymatically isolated rat right ventricular myocytes at room temperature. IK1 was measured as the current sensitive to 100 µM Ba2+. Results We observed a dual steady-state effect of aminophylline at most of the applied concentrations. Either inhibition or activation was apparent in individual cells during application of aminophylline at a given concentration. The smaller was magnitude of the control IK1, the more likely was activation of the current in the presence of aminophylline and vice versa (tested at 10 and 30 µM). The effect was voltage-independent and fully reversible during the subsequent wash-out. The mean aminophylline effect was inhibitory at all concentrations (10, 15, 4, and 23%-inhibition at -50 mV at 3, 10, 30, and 100 µM, respectively). Using a modified version of the population model of IK1 channels that we published before, the dual effect can be explained by interaction of aminophylline with two channel populations in a different way, the first one being inhibited and the second one being activated by the drug. Considering various fractions of these two channel populations in individual cells, varying effects observed in the measured cells can be simulated. Conclusions Aminophylline at clinically-relevant concentrations affects IK1 in rat ventricular myocytes in a dual way, showing both the steady-state activation and inhibition in various cells, even at the same concentration. It may be related to a different effect of the drug on various Kir2.x subunits forming the heterotetrameric IK1 channels present at the cell membrane of a single cell.

Cobalt oxide nanoparticles induce oxidative stress and alter electromechanical function in rat ventricular myocytes

Background Nanotoxicology is an increasingly relevant field and sound paradigms on how inhaled nanoparticles (NPs) interact with organs at the cellular level, causing harmful conditions, have yet to be established. This is particularly true in the case of the cardiovascular system, where experimental and clinical evidence shows morphological and functional damage associated with NP exposure. Giving the increasing interest on cobalt oxide (Co3O4) NPs applications in industrial and bio-medical fields, a detailed knowledge of the involved toxicological effects is required, in view of assessing health risk for subjects/workers daily exposed to nanomaterials. Specifically, it is of interest to evaluate whether NPs enter cardiac cells and interact with cell function. We addressed this issue by investigating the effect of acute exposure to Co3O4-NPs on excitation-contraction coupling in freshly isolated rat ventricular myocytes. Results Patch clamp analysis showed instability of resting membrane potential, decrease in membrane electrical capacitance, and dose-dependent decrease in action potential duration in cardiomyocytes acutely exposed to Co3O4-NPs. Motion detection and intracellular calcium fluorescence highlighted a parallel impairment of cell contractility in comparison with controls. Specifically, NP-treated cardiomyocytes exhibited a dose-dependent decrease in the fraction of shortening and in the maximal rate of shortening and re-lengthening, as well as a less efficient cytosolic calcium clearing and an increased tendency to develop spontaneous twitches. In addition, treatment with Co3O4-NPs strongly increased ROS accumulation and induced nuclear DNA damage in a dose dependent manner. Finally, transmission electron microscopy analysis demonstrated that acute exposure did lead to cellular internalization of NPs. Conclusions Taken together, our observations indicate that Co3O4-NPs alter cardiomyocyte electromechanical efficiency and intracellular calcium handling, and induce ROS production resulting in oxidative stress that can be related to DNA damage and adverse effects on cardiomyocyte functionality.