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Biomedical subjects

M R Rosen

Publications and source records attributed to M R Rosen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

T wave changes persisting after ventricular pacing in canine heart are altered by 4-aminopyridine but not by lidocaine. Implications with respect to phenomenon of cardiac 'memory'.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac "memory" refers to changes in T wave polarity induced by ventricular pacing that persist long after resumption of normal atrioventricular conduction. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied the occurrence and mechanism of T wave changes in the open-chest anesthetized dog subjected to three discontinuous 20-minute periods of right ventricular pacing. ECG changes were recorded in the standard limb leads during normal conduction (prepacing) and three trains (T1, T2, and T3) of right ventricular pacing at a rate 50% higher than normal (pacing), each followed by a period of normal conduction (postpacing) lasting as long as necessary for T wave changes to return to control values. During each of these phases, heart rate, QRS, corrected QT (QTc) duration, and T wave amplitude were measured. In the first group (control), T wave inversions occurred during normal atrioventricular conduction after a period of right ventricular pacing. These T wave anomalies appeared in the absence of any change in heart rate, QRS, or QTc duration. The magnitude of the T wave amplitude change was significantly greater after each successive pacing period. Furthermore, the changes in T wave morphology persisted for a longer period after each successive pacing train. In a second experimental group, lidocaine, which depresses the sodium window current, was administered to six dogs that were subjected to the same pacing protocol. Lidocaine decreased the QTc interval and prolonged QRS duration but did not alter the magnitude of changes in T wave amplitude and time to recovery described in control animals during the three postpacing intervals. In contrast, in the third group, 4-aminopyridine, a drug that blocks the transient outward current (ito), abolished the changes in T wave morphology that occurred during any postpacing interval. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that the manifestation of cardiac memory in the in situ dog heart is not altered by lidocaine but is abolished by 4-aminopyridine. Thus, cardiac memory may be based on a physiological property of the myocardium that is related to specific K+ channels.

4-Aminopyridine

Positive chronotropic responses induced by alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation of normal and "ischemic" Purkinje fibers have different receptor-effector coupling mechanisms.

We studied the mechanisms underlying the increase in automaticity induced by alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation of normal and "ischemic" canine Purkinje fibers. Fibers were superfused with a control Tyrode's solution, followed by an ischemic superfusate that included 10 mM KCl, 5 mM NaHCO3, Po2 of 10-25 mm Hg, and pH 6.7. To exclude beta-adrenergic actions, propranolol was added to all solutions. In the presence of phenylephrine, normal automaticity at high membrane potentials usually decreased, whereas the incidence of abnormal automaticity during ischemia was increased from a control value of 10% to 30%. Block of an alpha 1-receptor subtype with chloroethylclonidine in the presence of phenylephrine caused normal automaticity to increase in all fibers studied and significantly increased abnormal automaticity to 70%. The alpha-adrenergic-induced increase in automaticity did not occur in ischemic fibers from animals pretreated with pertussis toxin (PTX), which ADP-ribosylated and functionally inactivated the 41-kd family of GTP regulatory proteins. In contrast, the use of PTX enhanced the increase in automaticity induced by phenylephrine in normally polarized Purkinje fibers. Ryanodine, which blocks sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release, attenuated the increase in normal automaticity in nonischemic fibers but had no effect on abnormal automaticity in ischemic fibers. The increase in abnormal automaticity was, however, blocked by the alpha 1 subtype blocker WB 4101, which also blocks the increase in automaticity in normal fibers. In conclusion, the increase in abnormal automaticity in ischemic Purkinje fibers depends on a WB 4101-sensitive alpha 1-adrenergic receptor subtype whose actions are transduced by a PTX-sensitive 41-kd G protein and are not blocked by ryanodine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Action Potentials

Mechanisms of ventricular arrhythmias.

Ventricular arrhythmias may result from abnormalities of impulse initiation and/or impulse propagation. The former include automatic arrhythmias, which may occur at high (normal) levels of membrane potential or at low (abnormal) levels of membrane potential. They also include triggered activity, which may result from early (occurring before complete repolarization) or delayed (occurring after complete repolarization) afterdepolarizations. Arrhythmias resulting from abnormal impulse propagation may be reentrant, determined in part by anatomic or functional conduction block, or the result of reflection. The factors determining various arrhythmogenic mechanisms are discussed.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac

Beta adrenergic modulation of cardiac rhythm in a rat model of altered sympathetic neural development.

We previously have shown that treatment of neonatal rats (days 1-10) with Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) or its antibody (Ab) modifies alpha-adrenergic receptor-effector coupling, such that innervated hearts at day 10 show high levels of a 41 kDa GTP regulatory protein (G protein) that is a substrate for pertussis toxin and that links the alpha 1-receptor to the Na/K pump. This receptor-effector pathway results in alpha adrenergic-induced decreases in automaticity. In contrast, non-innervated hearts at day 10 show lower levels of the pertussis toxin sensitive G-protein and increases in automaticity induced by alpha-agonist. We now report the effects of administration of NGF, Ab or placebo on beta-adrenergic receptor-effector coupling in neonatal rats. Rats were administered NGF, Ab or placebo on days 1-10 of life. On day 10, the beta-receptor number and affinity and the stimulatory G-protein, Gs, were equivalent across groups. Moreover, the ventricular automatic response to beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation was equivalent across groups suggesting there was no change in receptor-effector coupling as a result of the difference in innervation. These results on beta-adrenergic receptor-effector coupling considered in light of our prior studies on alpha-adrenergic coupling suggest that the development of sympathetic innervation is more a determinant of alpha than beta adrenergic modulation of ventricular rhythm.

Adrenergic beta-Agonists

The electrophysiologic effects of bupivacaine on adult, neonatal, and fetal guinea pig papillary muscles.

The authors used standard microelectrode techniques to study developmental changes in the effects of bupivacaine on the transmembrane potentials of adult, neonatal, and fetal guinea pig papillary muscles. Bupivacaine hyperpolarized membrane potential in the adult and neonatal muscles but not the fetal muscles. In all three age groups, action potential overshoot and the maximum rate of increase of phase 0 (Vmax) were significantly reduced by bupivacaine greater than or equal to 1.0 microgram/ml. Bupivacaine 1.5 micrograms/ml reduced action potential duration at both 50% and 100% repolarization in the fetal tissues, but not in adult or neonatal tissues. Tonic block was not induced by bupivacaine in any of the three groups. Use-dependent block was variable at bupivacaine 0.2 micrograms/ml in all three groups and was consistent and equivalent at higher concentrations. The onset and offset of use-dependent block were the same in all three groups, with onset occurring between 6.0 and 6.7 beats and the time constant for recovery being 1.9-2.3 s. The authors conclude there is an age-related bupivacaine effect on action potential duration but no age-related change in bupivacaine-induced use-dependent block.

Action Potentials

Use-dependent actions and effects on transmembrane action potentials of flecainide, encainide, and ethmozine in canine Purkinje fibers.

The Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial implicated flecainide and encainide as proarrhythmic in a specific clinical setting, whereas ethmozine was not. The purpose of the present study was to attempt to understand the cellular basis for these different drug effects by comparing the actions on transmembrane action potential characteristics and onset and offset of use-dependent block in canine Purkinje fibers using standard microelectrode techniques. All drugs caused qualitatively similar changes on action potential characteristics: reduction of action potential amplitude and the maximum rate of depolarization (Vmax) as well as acceleration of repolarization. Ethmozine and the orthodemethyl (O-D) metabolite of encainide had greater effects at all concentrations studied than encainide or flecainide. Although ethmozine induced greater use-dependent reduction of Vmax than flecainide or encainide, it also showed faster onset and recovery from use-dependent block. The time constant of recovery from use-dependent block for O-D encainide was about 5 times that of the parent compound. The rates of onset and recovery from use-dependent block for ethmozine were similar to those reported for class IA drugs like disopyramide and much slower than class IB drugs like lidocaine. The faster on and off rates of ethmozine when compared to flecainide and encainide in this study may provide the basis for the differing effects of these drugs on conduction in situ and their proarrhythmic actions.

Action Potentials

Effects of protein kinase inhibitors on canine Purkinje fibre pacemaker depolarization and the pacemaker current i(f).

1. The effects of the protein kinase inhibitors H-7 and H-8 were investigated on diastolic depolarization of the action potential with microelectrodes and on the pacemaker current if with the two-microelectrode voltage clamp in canine cardiac Purkinje fibres. 2. Both 200 microM-H-7 and 100 microM-H-8 had no significant effect on the slope of diastolic depolarization but eliminated the actions of isoprenaline (1 microM). 3. We examined the actions of H-7 and H-8 on if in the presence and absence of isoprenaline. H-7 (200 microM) shifted the pacemaker current if in the negative direction on the voltage axis, whereas 100 microM-H-8 had no significant effect by itself. Both 200 microM-H-7 and 100 microM-H-8 can reverse or prevent the actions of isoprenaline (1-5 microM) on if. 4. We applied activators of the cyclic AMP cascade down-stream to the beta-receptor, to further evaluate where H-7 and H-8 might be exerting their effects. When exposing Purkinje fibres to an adenylyl cyclase activator (forskolin, 10-50 microM), a phosphodiesterase inhibitor (IBMX, 100 microM) and a permeable cyclic AMP analogue (8-chlorophenylthio-cyclic AMP, 200 microM-1 mM), the amplitude of if was increased. H-7 and H-8 at 100-200 microM eliminated each of these actions. 5. These results suggest that a phosphorylation process is involved in the modulation of the pacemaker current, if, in Purkinje fibres. The different actions of H-7 and H-8 on basal if suggest the hypothesis that other protein kinases, possibly protein kinase C, might also be involved in regulating basal phosphorylation of if in Purkinje fibres.

1-(5-Isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-Methylpiperazine

Abnormal automatic rhythms in ischemic Purkinje fibers are modulated by a specific alpha 1-adrenergic receptor subtype.

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in adrenergic pharmacology have made possible the identification of alpha 1-adrenergic receptor subtypes using the specific blockers chloroethylclonidine and WB 4101. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the present study, we used these two blockers to determine the mechanisms responsible for automatic rhythms occurring during simulated ischemia and reperfusion of isolated canine Purkinje fibers. Experiments were done in the presence of propranolol to minimize beta-adrenergic contributions to the rhythms studied. In the control situation, all fibers showed membrane potentials greater than -90 mV and normal automatic rhythms. During simulated ischemia, membrane potential depolarized to the -60 mV range. Abnormal automaticity was seen in 20% of fibers not treated with phenylephrine and in 50% of those superfused with 1 x 10(-7) M phenylephrine. The incidence of abnormal automaticity was reduced to 0% by WB 4101 (which blocks phosphoinositide metabolic effects of alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation in the heart) and was increased to 90% by chloroethylclonidine (which blocks Na-K pump-stimulating effects of alpha-agonists). Moreover, the ischemic fibers were significantly more hyperpolarized during superfusion with WB 4101 than with chloroethylclonidine. Triggered activity induced by delayed or early after depolarizations was not seen in any experiment. CONCLUSIONS: Automatic arrhythmias induced by alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation during simulated ischemia may be attributed to a specific alpha 1-adrenergic receptor subtype that is blocked by WB 4101. These results have important implications with respect to the induction of arrhythmias in the setting of ischemia and the means for their prevention or treatment.

Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists

An alpha-1-adrenergic receptor subtype is responsible for delayed afterdepolarizations and triggered activity during simulated ischemia and reperfusion of isolated canine Purkinje fibers.

BACKGROUND: We used standard microelectrode techniques to study delayed afterdepolarizations and triggered activity induced by alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation in canine Purkinje fibers in the setting of simulated ischemia and reperfusion. METHODS AND RESULTS: The ischemic environment included 10.8 mM [Ca2+]o, 10 mM [K+]o, 40-50 mm Hg PO2, 20 mM lactate (pH 6.7), and 1 x 10(-7) M phenylephrine. During ischemia, there was the variable occurrence of abnormal automaticity, early afterdepolarizations, and delayed afterdepolarizations. During reperfusion, 100% of preparations manifested delayed afterdepolarizations and 40% manifested triggered activity. Decreasing PO2 to less than 20 mm Hg markedly reduced the incidence of delayed afterdepolarizations and triggered activity, as did increasing PO2 to values of more than 90 mm Hg. WB 4101, an alpha 1-subtype-selective competitive blocker that antagonizes the effects of alpha 1-agonists to induce phosphoinositide metabolism and increase [Ca2+]i, significantly reduced the incidence of delayed afterdepolarizations and triggered activity. In contrast, the alpha 1-subtype-selective blocker chloroethylclonidine, an alkylating agent, had no effect on afterdepolarizations or triggered activity. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that a specific alpha 1-adrenergic pathway is involved in the induction of triggered activity in the setting of ischemia and reperfusion and suggest that interventions used to block this specific pathway have the potential to be antiarrhythmic. They also emphasize the importance of the magnitude of hypoxia in the expression of the arrhythmias.

Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists

Thrombin modulates phosphoinositide metabolism, cytosolic calcium, and impulse initiation in the heart.

Thrombin stimulates phosphoinositide hydrolysis and increases cytosolic calcium in several types of cells. To determine whether thrombin exerts similar stimulatory actions in the heart and whether this mechanism is linked to changes in cardiac electrical activity, the effects of thrombin on several biochemical and electrophysiological parameters were examined. In neonatal rat ventricular myocyte cultures freed of fibroblast contamination by irradiation, thrombin rapidly induced the breakdown of phosphoinositides. Formation of inositol trisphosphate was detectable within 5 seconds and was followed by the sequential accumulation of inositol bisphosphate and inositol monophosphate. The effect of thrombin to stimulate phosphoinositide hydrolysis was inhibited by hirudin, but not by propranolol, prazosin, or pretreatment with pertussis toxin. The inositol phospholipid response was unassociated with changes in intracellular cAMP levels. To determine the electrophysiological effects of thrombin, we used microelectrode techniques to study canine Purkinje fibers. Thrombin increased the beating rate of fibers depolarized using barium, but not those at normal maximal diastolic potential. In addition, thrombin prolonged the action potential duration in fibers driven at a constant cycle length. This response was inhibited by hirudin and nisoldipine, but not by propranolol, prazosin, or pretreatment with pertussis toxin. Thrombin also augmented cesium-induced early afterdepolarizations. Using the fluorescent calcium indicator fura-2, we demonstrated that thrombin increased the beating rate, diastolic calcium, and peak systolic calcium of spontaneously contracting cultured ventricular myocytes. Cytosolic calcium also increased in both rat ventricular myocytes and canine Purkinje myocytes that were electrically driven at a constant basic cycle length, indicating that thrombin modulates cellular calcium metabolism independent of its actions to enhance automaticity. Taken together, these findings demonstrate several novel biological actions of thrombin in the mammalian heart that may be functionally related. The actions of thrombin to enhance automaticity and prolong repolarization may contribute to the electrical abnormalities observed in the setting of myocardial ischemia and infarction.

Action Potentials

Control of epistaxis in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

Twenty-nine patients were admitted to Pennsylvania Hospital between March 1984 and July 1990 with a diagnosis of epistaxis and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Data were obtained through a retrospective review of the charts of these patients. Patients were treated for epistaxis with the CO2 laser, neodymium:aluminum garnet laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm (Nd-Yag), Nd-Yag laser with a wavelength of 532 nm (KTP), septodermoplasty, or any combination of these procedures. Patients underwent an average of 2.5 procedures each. Overall, 25 of 29 patients reported their symptoms had greatly improved with therapy. The average length of time without the need for further surgical intervention was 16.3 months for the Nd-Yag laser and 11.7 months for the KTP laser. Septodermoplasty using buccal mucosal grafts allowed, patients to avoid additional procedures for 24.4 months, which was twice as long as for standard septodermoplasty using split-thickness skin grafts. Although no therapy completely resolves the epistaxis, laser therapy combined with septodermoplasty enables the patients to gain excellent control of the epistaxis for several years.

Adolescent

A WB 4101-sensitive alpha-1 adrenergic receptor subtype modulates repolarization in canine Purkinje fibers.

We used standard microelectrode techniques to study alpha-1 adrenergic modulation of repolarization in canine Purkinje fibers. Our objectives were to subtype this alpha-1 receptor response pharmacologically, to determine whether alpha-1 adrenergic modulation of repolarization is dependent on the function of a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein and to identify developmental changes in this alpha-1 response. Phenylephrine (Phe) induced a dose-dependent increase in transmembrane action potential duration at 50% (APD50) and 90% (APD90) repolarization. For the adult fibers, control APD50 and APD90 were 310 +/- 5 and 407 +/- 5 msec; after superfusion with Phe, 1 x 10(-6) M, the values were 350 +/- 6 and 468 +/- 8 msec, respectively (P less than .05). In 2- to 3-week-old dogs, control APD50 and APD90 were 170 +/- 14 and 255 +/- 10 msec; after superfusion with Phe, the values were 228 +/- 10 and 305 +/- 16 msec, respectively (P less than .05). Propranolol, 2 x 10(-7) M, did not affect the response to Phe. The alpha-1 blocker prazosin, 1 x 10(-7) M, and the alpha-1 receptor subtype selective antagonist, WB 4101, 1 x 10(-7) M, suppressed the response to Phe, but no effect on the response to Phe was seen with the subtype selective antagonist, chloroethylclonidine. In vivo pretreatment of dogs with pertussis toxin, 30 micrograms/kg i.v., decreased markedly the amount of G protein substrate available for subsequent in vitro ADP-ribosylation by pertussis toxin and [32P]NAD (from 7039 +/- 713 to 537 +/- 50 fmol/mg of protein in adult fibers and from 1134 to 62 fmol/mg of proteins in pooled young fibers). Pertussis toxin pretreatment increased the Phe-induced prolongation of APD50 and APD90 in the young and adult fibers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Action Potentials

Premature escape beats induced by overdrive pacing in canine Purkinje fibers. Evidence for the role of normal automaticity as an underlying cellular mechanism.

Premature escape beats induced in conscious dogs with chronic complete atrioventricular block have been defined as escape beats occurring on cessation of overdrive pacing and having a coupling interval to the last paced beat shorter than the coupling interval between the premature escape beat and the second postpacing beat. Triggered activity has been proposed as the primary underlying mechanism. We used standard microelectrode techniques to study the effects of overdrive pacing on normal automatic canine Purkinje fibers to determine if premature escape beats could be induced and if so, to define the underlying cellular mechanism(s). For this purpose, we overdrive-paced Purkinje fibers for 10 and 50 seconds and for 10 and 50 beats at a pacing cycle length (PCL) of 1,000-200 msec. In addition, to help distinguish among major arrhythmogenic mechanisms, we used a matrix of drugs consisting of propranolol, nadolol, lidocaine, ethmozin, and doxorubicin. Fifty-second stimulation trains induced "classic" overdrive suppression of the first three postpacing impulses, whereas 10-second overdrive pacing induced significant overdrive suppression only at a PCL of 200 msec. With 50-beat overdrive pacing and a PCL of 1,000-600 msec, there was overdrive suppression of postpacing impulses, whereas reduced overdrive suppression was observed at a PCL of 400-200 msec. Ten-beat stimulation trains induced a "flat response" of postpacing impulses. Ten- and 50-beat overdrive pacing provoked premature escape beats in 66% of the fibers, with the higher incidence at a PCL of 200 msec for 50-beat stimulation trains. No shortening of the coupling interval of premature escape beats was observed at faster pacing rates. Only lidocaine (which suppresses normal automaticity) abolished premature escape beats. We conclude that normal automaticity is the most likely mechanism underlying premature escape beats in Purkinje fibers with high levels of membrane potential.

Animals