Search results for "Contractility"

Effects of the Phosphodiesterase Inhibitor Enoximone on the Autonomic Innervation of the Isolated Heart

1989

Enoximone is a selective inhibitor of a low Km, cyclic AMP-specific type of phosphodiesterase (PDE III). In guinea pig and chicken atria, enoximone (0.1-100 mumol/L) caused a weak increase in the force of contraction. The heart rate was slightly enhanced or was unchanged (chicken). Enoximone (30 mumol/L) also failed to shift the concentration-response curves for the positive inotropic and chronotropic effects of norepinephrine in guinea pig atria. Under almost the same conditions, enoximone and the nonselective PDE inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) markedly potentiated the forskolin-induced mobilization of choline from phospholipids. The concentrations of IBMX (100 mumol/L) and o…

Coronary drainage in theOctopus vulgaris systemic heart

1990

The vascular architecture of the coronary system of the systemic heart of the octopus (Octopus vulgaris) has been studied by means of both the corrosion-cast method and scanning electron microscopy. It is shown that the Octopus systemic heart myocardium is supplied through a very rich capillary network, the complexity of which probably reflects the complex organization of the ventricular wall. Drainage occurs by way of a classic venous system that originates from this capillary network. Morphological evidences are reported indicating that the coronary bed communicates directly with the ventricular lumen. In the isolated perfused systemic heart, the flow through this system is related direct…

Wechselwirkungen zwischen Na+-, Ca2+- und K+-Einflüssen auf Dynamik und Kontraktilität des Myokards

1969

Effects of phorbol 12,13-diacetate on human isolated bronchus

2000

Protein kinase C appears to be involved in the regulation of airway contractility. Phorbol 12,13-diacetate (PDA; 0.01-10 microM), a protein kinase C activator, produced a transient relaxation followed by a sustained contraction of human isolated bronchus. Different protein kinase C inhibitors (calphostin C, staurosporine and 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine) (H-7), nifedipine (NIF; 1 microM) or incubation with Ca(2+)-free medium, inhibited the spasmogenic response to phorbol, while ouabain (10 microM) suppressed only the initial relaxation. These results indicate that the initial relaxation, in response to PDA, is related to the activation of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase, while the ensuin…

Akt induces enhanced myocardial contractility and cell size in vivo in transgenic mice

2002

The serine-threonine kinase Akt seems to be central in mediating stimuli from different classes of receptors. In fact, both IGF-1 and IL6-like cytokines induce hypertrophic and antiapoptotic signals in cardiomyocytes through PI3K-dependent Akt activation. More recently, it was shown that Akt is involved also in the hypertrophic and antiapoptotic effects of β-adrenergic stimulation. Thus, to determine the effects of Akt on cardiac function in vivo, we generated a model of cardiac-specific Akt overexpression in mice. Transgenic mice were generated by using the E40K, constitutively active mutant of Akt linked to the rat α-myosin heavy chain promoter. The effects of cardiac-selective Akt overex…

Heart-targeted overexpression of caspase3 in mice increases infarct size and depresses cardiac function

2001

Up-regulation of proapoptotic genes has been reported in heart failure and myocardial infarction. To determine whether caspase genes can affect cardiac function, a transgenic mouse was generated. Cardiac tissue-specific overexpression of the proapoptotic gene Caspase3 was induced by using the rat promoter of α-myosin heavy chain, a model that may represent a unique tool for investigating new molecules and antiapoptotic therapeutic strategies. Cardiac-specific Caspase3 expression induced transient depression of cardiac function and abnormal nuclear and myofibrillar ultrastructural damage. When subjected to myocardial ischemia–reperfusion injury, Caspase3 transgenic mice showed increased inf…

Adrenoceptor-mediated changes of action potential and force of contraction in human isolated ventricular heart muscle.

1988

Abstract 1. The effects of alpha-adrenoceptor stimulation on the action potential and force of contraction were investigated in human isolated ventricular heart muscle and compared with those of beta-adrenoceptor stimulation. 2. The maximal stimulation by isoprenaline of beta-adrenoceptors produced large changes in the force of contraction, which were accompanied by moderate increases in the height of the action potential. The maximal inotropic effect produced by stimulation of alpha-adrenoceptors with phenylephrine, in the presence of propranolol (1 mumol 1(-1)) was much smaller (about 10% of that seen in response to beta-adrenoceptor stimulation), and no significant changes of the action …

Differential electrophysiologic and inotropic effects of phenylephrine in atrial and ventricular heart muscle preparations from rats.

1991

Stimulation of alpha 1-adrenoceptors evokes a different pattern of inotropic responses in atrial and ventricular heart muscle preparations from rats. The inotropic effects are accompanied by different changes in membrane potential. In an attempt to clarify the question whether or to which extent these events are causally related, the effects of phenylephrine on force of contraction, transmembrane potential, Ca2+ current (ICa) and K+ currents were comparatively studied in either tissue. In atrial preparations, phenylephrine 10 mumol/l caused an increase in force of contraction, a marked prolongation of the action potential duration and a depolarization of the membrane at rest. In the ventric…

cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinase I Mediates the Negative Inotropic Effect of cGMP in the Murine Myocardium

2002

To study the role of cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (cGKI) for cardiac contractility, force of contraction (F c ) was studied in electrically driven heart muscle from wild-type (WT) mice and from conventional and conditional cGKI knockout mice. Both 8-Br-cGMP and 8-pCPT-cGMP reduced Fc in cardiac muscle from juvenile WT but not from juvenile cGKI-null mutants. Similarly, the cGMP analogues reduced F c in forskolin-stimulated ventricular muscle from WT mice but not from cGKI-null mutants. In contrast, carbachol reduced F c in both groups of animals. 8-Br-cGMP reduced F c also in heart muscle from adult WT mice but not from adult cardiomyocyte-specific cGKI-knockout mice. These results demo…

Glycyrrhetinic Acid Reverses the Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Hypocontractility to Noradrenaline in Rat Aorta: Implications to Septic Shock

2014

Abstract.: Septic shock and associated vascular hyporeactivity to vasoconstrictor agonists remain a major problem of critical care medicine. Here we report that glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), the active component of licorice, effectively restores vascular contractility in the model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated rat aorta. GA was as effective as the NO synthase inhibitor NG-nitroarginine methylester. GA did not affect the vascular NO levels (measured by EPR spin trapping) and relaxations to l-arginine in LPS-treated rings as well as relaxation to S-nitroso-Nacetylpenicillamine in control rings. Thus, GA may represent an interesting alternative to NO synthase inhibitors in sepsis-associated …