Suppressed parasympathetic function is commonly present in cardiovascular diseases, aging, obesity, and various other health conditions. Impaired parasympathetic action is known as a detrimental factor and contributes to the adverse outcomes in these conditions. However, the underlying mechanisms remain to be fully addressed. In this study, using high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice as a mode...

Much of the heart, including the atria, right ventricle and outflow tract (OFT) is derived from a progenitor cell population termed the second heart field (SHF) that contributes progressively to the embryonic heart during cardiac looping. Several studies have revealed anterior-posterior patterning of the SHF, since the anterior region (anterior heart field) contributes to right ventricular and ...

Approximately 10% of congenital heart diseases (CHDs) include Tetralogy Fallot (TOF). Fortunately, due to advanced surgical techniques, most patients survive until adulthood. However, these require frequent monitoring for postoperative complications leading hemodynamic alterations. Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), as derived from 4D-flow magnetic resonance imaging (4D-flow MRI), has been used ch...

Although diabetes has been identified as a major risk factor for atrial fibrillation, little is known about glucose metabolism in the healthy and diabetic atria. Glucose transport into the cell, the rate-limiting step of glucose utilization, is regulated by the Glucose Transporters (GLUTs). Although GLUT4 is the major isoform in the heart, GLUT8 has recently emerged as a novel cardiac isoform. ...

BACKGROUND The mechanisms of chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) are not well understood. We performed epicardial mapping of chronic AF in patients undergoing open heart surgery to test the hypothesis that chronic AF is due to a left atrial "driver" with a regular, short cycle length, resulting in fibrillatory conduction to the rest of the atria. METHODS AND RESULTS Nine patients with chronic AF...

Junctin is a transmembrane protein of the cardiac junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) that binds to the ryanodine receptor, calsequestrin, and triadin 1. This quaternary protein complex is thought to facilitate SR Ca2+ release. To improve our understanding of the contribution of junctin to the regulation of SR function, we examined the age-dependent effects of junctin overexpression in the a...

Effects of ouabain and catecholamines_ and their modifications_ by propranolol were investigat ed on the functional refractory period ( FRP ), contractile force and heart rate in isolated atria of guinea-pigs_ and rats.. Catecholamines produced a transient decrease in the FRP of guinea-pig atria, while ouabain caused a continual increase after a latent period of 5 to 10 minutes. The FRP in rat ...

Vertebrate cardiac progenitor cells are initially allocated in two distinct domains, the first and second heart fields. It has been demonstrated that first heart field cells give rise to the myocardial cells in the left ventricle and part of the atria, whereas second heart field cells move into the developing heart tube and contribute to the myocardium of the outflow tract and right ventricle a...

This work is dedicated to the simulation of full cycles of the electrical activity of the heart and the corresponding body surface potential. The model is based on a realistic torso and heart anatomy, including ventricles and atria. One of the specificities of our approach is to model the atria as a surface, which is the kind of data typically provided by medical imaging for thin volumes. The b...

Stored cardiac pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (pro-ANP) is converted to ANP and released upon stretch from the atria into the circulation. Corin is a serin protease with pro-ANP-converting properties and may be the rate-limiting enzyme in ANP release. This study was aimed to clone and sequence corin in the rat and to analyze corin mRNA expression in heart failure when ANP release upon stretch i...