Defective cardiac muscle relaxation plays a causal role in heart failure. Shown here is the new in vivo application of parvalbumin, a calcium-binding protein that facilitates ultrafast relaxation of specialized skeletal muscles. Parvalbumin is not naturally expressed in the heart. We show that parvalbumin gene transfer to the heart in vivo produces levels of parvalbumin characteristic of fast s...

We monitored myocardial function in postinfarcted wild-type (WT) and transgenic (TG) mouse hearts with overexpression of the cardiac Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger. Five weeks after infarction, cardiac function was better maintained in TG than WT mice [left ventricular (LV) systolic pressure: WT, 41 +/- 2; TG, 58 +/- 3 mmHg; P < 0.05; maximum rising rate of LV pressure (+dP/dt(max)): WT, 3,750 +/- 346;...

TO DETERMINE whether, in certain aspects, hypertrophied heart muscle behaves differently from normal heart muscle simple observations were performed. Papillary muscle strips from the left ventricle of rats, the hearts of which had been caused to hypertrophy, were compared with papillary strips from normal rat hearts by measuring tension developed at various weights in a perfused isolated muscle...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the detailed anatomy of the terminal crest (crista terminalis) and its junctional regions with the pectinate muscles and intercaval area to provide the yardstick for structural normality. DESIGN 97 human necropsy hearts were studied from patients who were not known to have medical histories of atrial arrhythmias. The dimensions of the terminal crest were measured in w...

Although glucagon exerts positive inotropic effects in patients with no or mild impairment of cardiac function, similar effects are not consistently observed in patients with chronic heart failure. Accordingly, the inotropic effects of glucagon on papillary muscles from normal cats and cats in which right ventricular failure had been produced for 4-145 days by pulmonary artery banding were comp...

OBJECTIVE Prolonged cardiac contraction and relaxation in hypothyroidism are in part related to diminished expression of the gene coding for the calcium pump of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SERCA2a). Therefore, we examined whether or not transgenic SERCA2a gene expression in mice may compensate for the cardiac effects of hypothyroidism. METHODS SERCA2a mRNA and protein were analyzed from heart...

Introduction: The major vein draining blood from the heart is Coronary Sinus (CS). Its significance in facilitating numerous cardiac treatments such as biventricular pacing, and placement of a variety devices has made CS therapeutically essential structure. development advanced invasive interventional procedures requires thorough understanding anatomy. Aim: To determine location, shape, length,...