Mechanisms of atrial fibrillation termination by pure sodium channel blockade in an ionically-realistic mathematical model

The mechanisms by which Na+-channel blocking antiarrhythmic drugs terminate atrial fibrillation (AF) remain unclear. Classical "leading-circle" theory suggests that Na+-channel blockade should, if anything, promote re-entry. We used an ionically-based mathematical model of vagotonic AF to evaluate the effects of applying pure Na+-current (I(Na)) inhibition during sustained arrhythmia. Under control conditions, AF was maintained by 1 or 2 dominant spiral waves, with fibrillatory propagation at critical levels of action potential duration (APD) dispersion. I(Na) inhibition terminated AF increasingly with increasing block, terminating all AF at 65% block. During 1:1 conduction, I(Na) inhibition reduced APD (by 13% at 4 Hz and 60% block), conduction velocity (by 37%), and re-entry wavelength (by 24%). During AF, I(Na) inhibition increased the size of primary rotors and reduced re-entry rate (eg, dominant frequency decreased by 33% at 60% I(Na) inhibition) while decreasing generation of secondary wavelets by wavebreak. Three mechanisms contributed to I(Na) block-induced AF termination in the model: (1) enlargement of the center of rotation beyond the capacity of the computational substrate; (2) decreased anchoring to functional obstacles, increasing meander and extinction at boundaries; and (3) reduction in the number of secondary wavelets that could provide new primary rotors. Optical mapping in isolated sheep hearts confirmed that tetrodotoxin dose-dependently terminates AF while producing effects qualitatively like those of I(Na) inhibition in the mathematical model. We conclude that pure INa inhibition terminates AF, producing activation changes consistent with previous clinical and experimental observations. These results provide insights into previously enigmatic mechanisms of class I antiarrhythmic drug-induced AF termination. The full text of this article is available online at http://circres.ahajournals.org     

Hemorheological efficiency of drugs, targeting on intracellular phosphodiesterase activity: in vitro study

This in vitro study was designed to examine changes of red cell microrheological parameters (red cell aggregation and their suspension viscosity) after cell incubation with some drugs having phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitory activity (pentoxifylline - 25.0 microg/ml; drotaverine - 10.0 microg/ml; vinpocetine - 5.0 microg/ml; papaverine - 10.0 microg/ml; caffeine - 25.0 microg/ml; 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine [IBMX] - 10.0 microg/ml). Concentrations of used drugs for in vitro red cell microrheology study were the similar with those which it could be possible in blood of patient after intravenous therapeutic infusion. Red blood cells were separated from the blood by centrifugation at 1400 g for 15 min and washed 3 times with phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The washed RBCs were then resuspended in PBS at a hematocrit of approximately 40%. In each of the research sessions these RBC suspensions were divided into two aliquots and exposed to: one of the drug at 37 degrees C for 15 min; remaining aliquot (red cell suspension with PBS) was kept at 37 degrees C for 15 min and served as the control. It was found that all of used drugs decreased red cell aggregation and their suspension viscosity significantly. Since IBMX and vinpocetine are the specific inhibitor PDE activity it might be suppose that cellular PDE is molecular target in RBCs for this class of drugs. The obtained data reveals evidence that drugs, acting as PDE inhibitors, might be considered as microrheologically positive remedies.     

A humanised tissue‐engineered bone model allows species‐specific breast cancer‐related bone metastasis in vivo

Bone metastases frequently occur in the advanced stages of breast cancer. At this stage, the disease is deemed incurable. To date, the mechanisms of breast cancer‐related metastasis to bone are poorly understood. This may be attributed to the lack of appropriate animal models to investigate the complex cancer cell–bone interactions. In this study, two established tissue‐engineered bone constructs (TEBCs) were applied to a breast cancer‐related metastasis model. A cylindrical medical‐grade polycaprolactone‐tricalcium phosphate scaffold produced by fused deposition modelling (scaffold 1) was compared with a tubular calcium phosphate‐coated polycaprolactone scaffold fabricated by solution electrospinning (scaffold 2) for their potential to generate ectopic humanised bone in NOD/SCID mice. While scaffold 1 was found not suitable to generate a sufficient amount of ectopic bone tissue due to poor ectopic integration, scaffold 2 showed excellent integration into the host tissue, leading to bone formation. To mimic breast cancer cell colonisation to the bone, MDA‐MB‐231, SUM1315, and MDA‐MB‐231BO breast cancer cells were cultured in polyethylene glycol‐based hydrogels and implanted adjacent to the TEBCs. Histological analysis indicated that the breast cancer cells induced an osteoclastic reaction in the TEBCs, demonstrating analogies to breast cancer‐related bone metastasis seen in patients.     

Enhancement of temporal resolution and BOLD sensitivity in real-time fMRI using multi-slab echo-volumar imaging

In this study, a new approach to high-speed fMRI using multi-slab echo-volumar imaging (EVI) is developed that minimizes geometrical image distortion and spatial blurring, and enables nonaliased sampling of physiological signal fluctuation to increase BOLD sensitivity compared to conventional echo-planar imaging (EPI). Real-time fMRI using whole brain 4-slab EVI with 286 ms temporal resolution (4mm isotropic voxel size) and partial brain 2-slab EVI with 136 ms temporal resolution (4×4×6 mm(3) voxel size) was performed on a clinical 3 Tesla MRI scanner equipped with 12-channel head coil. Four-slab EVI of visual and motor tasks significantly increased mean (visual: 96%, motor: 66%) and maximum t-score (visual: 263%, motor: 124%) and mean (visual: 59%, motor: 131%) and maximum (visual: 29%, motor: 67%) BOLD signal amplitude compared with EPI. Time domain moving average filtering (2s width) to suppress physiological noise from cardiac and respiratory fluctuations further improved mean (visual: 196%, motor: 140%) and maximum (visual: 384%, motor: 200%) t-scores and increased extents of activation (visual: 73%, motor: 70%) compared to EPI. Similar sensitivity enhancement, which is attributed to high sampling rate at only moderately reduced temporal signal-to-noise ratio (mean: -52%) and longer sampling of the BOLD effect in the echo-time domain compared to EPI, was measured in auditory cortex. Two-slab EVI further improved temporal resolution for measuring task-related activation and enabled mapping of five major resting state networks (RSNs) in individual subjects in 5 min scans. The bilateral sensorimotor, the default mode and the occipital RSNs were detectable in time frames as short as 75 s. In conclusion, the high sampling rate of real-time multi-slab EVI significantly improves sensitivity for studying the temporal dynamics of hemodynamic responses and for characterizing functional networks at high field strength in short measurement times.     

Effect of L-lysine-A-oxidase on the development of genital herpes infection in guinea pigs

Positive effect of local treatment with L-lysine-a-oxidase on the course of herpes genital infection was demonstrated on guinea pigs even after the appearance of infection symptoms. In animals treated with L-lysine-a-oxidase, the severity of the disease, virus reproduction and virus-induced changes in cells were significantly less pronounced than in untreated animals. The preparations exerted no toxic effects. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 128, No. 12, pp. 654–656, December, 1999.     

Involvement of opioid receptors in Met-enkephalin modulation of blast-transformation of mouse splenocytes.

The influence of Met-enkephalin on mitogenic stimulation of mouse splenocytes was investigated. Met-enkephalin (ME) was shown to suppress proliferation induced by Concanavalin A and activate proliferation induced by Staphylococcus enterotoxin A. Both effects were revealed at low (down to 10(-14) M) concentration of pentapeptide. Naloxone reversed ME influence on cell activation. The number of receptors for naloxone was shown to increase up to 2.5-fold during mitogenic activation. The difference in expression of various types of opioid receptors at mitogenic stimulation was demonstrated by ligand displacement experiments.     

Point spread function mapping with parallel imaging techniques and high acceleration factors: fast, robust, and flexible method for echo-planar imaging distortion correction.

Echo-planar imaging (EPI) is an ultrafast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technique prone to geometric distortions. Various correction techniques have been developed to remedy these distortions. Here improvements of the point spread function (PSF) mapping approach are presented, which enable reliable and fully automated distortion correction of echo-planar images at high field strengths. The novel method is fully compatible with EPI acquisitions using parallel imaging. The applicability of parallel imaging to further accelerate PSF acquisition is shown. The possibility of collecting PSF data sets with total acceleration factors higher than the number of coil elements is demonstrated. Additionally, a new approach to visualize and interpret distortions in the context of various imaging and reconstruction methods based on the PSF is proposed. The reliable performance of the PSF mapping technique is demonstrated on phantom and volunteer scans at field strengths of up to 4 T.