Gergs U, Brückner T, Hofmann B, Neumann J. The proarrhythmic effects of hypothermia in atria isolated from 5-HT
4-receptor-overexpressing mice.
Eur J Pharmacol 2021;
906:174206. [PMID:
34048737 DOI:
10.1016/j.ejphar.2021.174206]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2021] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We investigated whether hypothermia would be arrhythmogenic in mice that overexpress the human 5-HT4 receptor only in their cardiac myocytes (5-HT4-TG). Contractile studies were performed in isolated, electrically driven (1 Hz) left and spontaneously beating right atrial preparations of 5-HT4-TG and littermate wild-type control mice (WT). Hypothermia (23 °C) decreased the force of contraction in the mouse right and left atrial preparations. Moreover, the concentration-dependent positive inotropic effects of 5-HT were blunted but still shifted to lower 5-HT concentrations in the left 5-HT4-TG atria in hypothermia compared to normothermia (37 °C). Furthermore, hypothermia increased the incidence of right atrial arrhythmias in 5-HT4-TG more than in WT mice. In contrast, at 37 °C, lowering the potassium concentration from 5.2 to 2.0 mM also induced arrhythmias in the right atrium, but with a similar incidence in WT and 5-HT4-TG mice. In contrast, 10 μM d,l-sotalol and 300 μM erythromycin did not induce arrhythmias. Hypothermia was accompanied by the increased expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in WT but not in 5-HT4-TG mice. We concluded that without the stimulation of 5-HT4-receptors by exogenous agonists, a simple temperature reduction can increase arrhythmias in 5-HT4-TG mice. It is tempting to speculate that in human patients, 5-HT4 receptors might contribute to potentially deadly hypothermia-induced arrhythmias.
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