De. Hansen et al., CALCIUM-DEPENDENT AND SODIUM-DEPENDENT MODULATION OF STRETCH-INDUCED ARRHYTHMIAS IN ISOLATED CANINE VENTRICLES, American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 37(5), 1995, pp. 1803-1813
Gadolinium-sensitive stretch-activated channels have been implicated i
n the process of mechanotransduction signaling of ventricular myocardi
um. Such channels nonspecifically transport Na+ and Ca2+ in the inward
direction. We tested the hypothesis that Na+ and Ca2+ influx are impo
rtant in the genesis of stretch-induced arrhythmias (SIAs) in an isola
ted, blood-perfused canine ventricle. To elicit SIAs, left ventricular
volume was transiently increased in early diastole using a computeriz
ed servo-pump system. Monophasic action potential recordings revealed
stretch-induced depolarizations (SIDs) that preceded the arrhythmias.
In five ventricles, raising the perfusate Ca2+ concentration from 1 to
3 mM increased ventricular sensitivity to SIAs, manifested by a decre
ase in the volume change required to precipitate an arrhythmia 50% of
the time (Delta V-50) from 19.5 +/- 2.7 to 15.2 +/- 1.9 ml (P < 0.05).
When the perusate Na+ concentration was decreased from 150 to 90 mM i
n seven ventricles, Delta V-50 greatly increased (31.1 +/- 14.4 vs. 17
.7 +/- 5.3 ml, P < 0.05), and SID amplitude decreased by 47% (P = 0.00
2). The suppression of SIAs with low extracellular Na+ is unlikely to
be mediated by voltage-gated Na+ channels because lidocaine (5 mg/dl)
did not alter SID amplitude. Thus the transsarcolemmal Na+ gradient (a
nd probably that of Ca2+) modulates the amplitude of SIDs, which, in t
urn, initiate SIAs. These data provide initial evidence that Na+ and C
a2+ help mediate the mechanotransduction processes that underly the ge
nesis of SIAs.