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Giannino G, Braia V, Griffith Brookles C, Giacobbe F, D'Ascenzo F, Angelini F, Saglietto A, De Ferrari GM, Dusi V. The Intrinsic Cardiac Nervous System: From Pathophysiology to Therapeutic Implications. BIOLOGY 2024; 13:105. [PMID: 38392323 PMCID: PMC10887082 DOI: 10.3390/biology13020105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2024] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
The cardiac autonomic nervous system (CANS) plays a pivotal role in cardiac homeostasis as well as in cardiac pathology. The first level of cardiac autonomic control, the intrinsic cardiac nervous system (ICNS), is located within the epicardial fat pads and is physically organized in ganglionated plexi (GPs). The ICNS system does not only contain parasympathetic cardiac efferent neurons, as long believed, but also afferent neurons and local circuit neurons. Thanks to its high degree of connectivity, combined with neuronal plasticity and memory capacity, the ICNS allows for a beat-to-beat control of all cardiac functions and responses as well as integration with extracardiac and higher centers for longer-term cardiovascular reflexes. The present review provides a detailed overview of the current knowledge of the bidirectional connection between the ICNS and the most studied cardiac pathologies/conditions (myocardial infarction, heart failure, arrhythmias and heart transplant) and the potential therapeutic implications. Indeed, GP modulation with efferent activity inhibition, differently achieved, has been studied for atrial fibrillation and functional bradyarrhythmias, while GP modulation with efferent activity stimulation has been evaluated for myocardial infarction, heart failure and ventricular arrhythmias. Electrical therapy has the unique potential to allow for both kinds of ICNS modulation while preserving the anatomical integrity of the system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Giannino
- Cardiology, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Torino, Italy
- Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, 10126 Torino, Italy
| | - Valentina Braia
- Cardiology, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Torino, Italy
- Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, 10126 Torino, Italy
| | - Carola Griffith Brookles
- Cardiology, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Torino, Italy
- Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, 10126 Torino, Italy
| | - Federico Giacobbe
- Cardiology, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Torino, Italy
- Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, 10126 Torino, Italy
| | - Fabrizio D'Ascenzo
- Cardiology, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Torino, Italy
- Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, 10126 Torino, Italy
| | - Filippo Angelini
- Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, 10126 Torino, Italy
| | - Andrea Saglietto
- Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, 10126 Torino, Italy
| | - Gaetano Maria De Ferrari
- Cardiology, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Torino, Italy
- Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, 10126 Torino, Italy
| | - Veronica Dusi
- Cardiology, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Torino, Italy
- Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, 10126 Torino, Italy
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Dyavanapalli J. Novel approaches to restore parasympathetic activity to the heart in cardiorespiratory diseases. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2020; 319:H1153-H1161. [PMID: 33035444 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00398.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Neural control of the heart is regulated by sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system, both opposing each other to maintain cardiac homeostasis via regulating heart rate, conduction velocity, force of contraction, and coronary blood flow. Sympathetic hyperactivity and diminished parasympathetic activity are the characteristic features of many cardiovascular disease states including hypertension, myocardial ischemia, and arrhythmias that result in heart failure. Restoring parasympathetic activity to the heart has recently been identified as the promising approach to treat such conditions. However, approaches that used vagal nerve stimulation have been shown to be unsuccessful in heart failure. This review focuses on novel chemogenetic approaches used to identify the cardioprotective nature of activating neural points along the vagal pathway (both central and peripheral) while being selectively therapeutic in heart failure and obstructive sleep apnea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jhansi Dyavanapalli
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
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Dyavanapalli J, Hora AJ, Escobar JB, Schloen J, Dwyer MK, Rodriguez J, Spurney CF, Kay MW, Mendelowitz D. Chemogenetic activation of intracardiac cholinergic neurons improves cardiac function in pressure overload-induced heart failure. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2020; 319:H3-H12. [PMID: 32412778 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00150.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Heart failure (HF) is characterized by autonomic imbalance with sympathetic hyperactivity and loss of parasympathetic tone. Intracardiac ganglia (ICG) neurons represent the final common pathway for vagal innervation of the heart and strongly regulate cardiac functions. This study tests whether ICG cholinergic neuron activation mitigates the progression of cardiac dysfunction and reduces mortality that occurs in HF. HF was induced by transaortic constriction (TAC) in male transgenic Long-Evans rats expressing Cre recombinase within choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) neurons. ChAT neurons were selectively activated by expression and activation of excitatory designer receptors exclusively activated by designer receptors (DREADDs) by clozapine-N-oxide (TAC + treatment and sham-treated groups). Control animals expressed DREADDs but received saline (sham and TAC groups). A separate set of animals were telemetry instrumented to record blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR). Acute activation of ICG neurons resulted in robust reductions in BP (∼20 mmHg) and HR (∼100 beats/min). All groups of animals were subjected to weekly echocardiography and treadmill stress tests from 3 to 6 wk post-TAC/sham surgery. Activation of ICG cholinergic neurons reduced the left ventricular systolic dysfunction (reductions in ejection fraction, fractional shortening, stroke volume, and cardiac output) and cardiac autonomic dysfunction [reduced HR recovery (HRR) post peak effort] observed in TAC animals. Additionally, activation of ICG ChAT neurons reduced mortality by 30% compared with untreated TAC animals. These data suggest that ICG cholinergic neuron activation reduces cardiac dysfunction and improves survival in HF, indicating that ICG neuron activation could be a novel target for treating HF.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Intracardiac ganglia form the final common pathway for the parasympathetic innervation of the heart. This study has used a novel chemogenetic approach within transgenic ChAT-Cre rats [expressing only Cre-recombinase in choline acetyl transferase (ChAT) neurons] to selectively increase intracardiac cholinergic parasympathetic activity to the heart in a pressure overload-induced heart failure model. The findings from this study confirm that selective activation of intracardiac cholinergic neurons lessens cardiac dysfunction and mortality seen in heart failure, identifying a novel downstream cardiac-selective target for increasing cardioprotective parasympathetic activity in heart failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jhansi Dyavanapalli
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Aloysius James Hora
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Joan B Escobar
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - John Schloen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Mary Kate Dwyer
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Jeannette Rodriguez
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Christopher F Spurney
- Children's National Heart Institute, Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Children's National Health System, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Matthew W Kay
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - David Mendelowitz
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
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He B, Lu Z, He W, Huang B, Jiang H. Autonomic Modulation by Electrical Stimulation of the Parasympathetic Nervous System: An Emerging Intervention for Cardiovascular Diseases. Cardiovasc Ther 2017; 34:167-71. [PMID: 26914959 DOI: 10.1111/1755-5922.12179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The cardiac autonomic nervous system has been known to play an important role in the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. Autonomic modulation by electrical stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which increases the parasympathetic activity and suppresses the sympathetic activity, is emerging as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Here, we review the recent literature on autonomic modulation by electrical stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system, including vagus nerve stimulation, transcutaneous auricular vagal stimulation, spinal cord stimulation, and ganglionated plexi stimulation, in the treatment of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and ventricular arrhythmias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo He
- Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Hubei Key Laboratory of Cardiology, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhibing Lu
- Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Hubei Key Laboratory of Cardiology, Wuhan, China
| | - Wenbo He
- Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Hubei Key Laboratory of Cardiology, Wuhan, China
| | - Bing Huang
- Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Hubei Key Laboratory of Cardiology, Wuhan, China
| | - Hong Jiang
- Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.,Hubei Key Laboratory of Cardiology, Wuhan, China
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