Beta-blocker treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation attenuates spontaneous calcium release-induced electrical activity

Aims: Atrial fibrillation (AF) has been associated with excessive spontaneous calcium release, linked to cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent phosphorylation of calcium regulatory proteins. Because β-blockers are expected to attenuate cAMP-dependent signaling, we aimed to examine whether the treatment of pat...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Jiménez-Sábado, Verónica, Casabella, Sergi, Llach, Anna, Gich, Ignasi, Casellas, Sergi, Ciruela, Francisco, Chen, S. R. Wayne, Guerra Ramos, José María, Ginel, Antonino, Benítez, Raul, Cinca, Juan, Tarifa, Carmen, Hove-Madsen, Leif
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/337377
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/337377
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:β-blocker treatment
Human atrial myocyte
Sarcoplasmic reticulum
Calcium currents
Calcium sparks
Arrhythmia
Descripción
Sumario:Aims: Atrial fibrillation (AF) has been associated with excessive spontaneous calcium release, linked to cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent phosphorylation of calcium regulatory proteins. Because β-blockers are expected to attenuate cAMP-dependent signaling, we aimed to examine whether the treatment of patients with β-blockers affected the incidence of spontaneous calcium release events or transient inward currents (I). Methods: The impact of treatment with commonly used β-blockers was analyzed in human atrial myocytes from 371 patients using patch-clamp technique, confocal calcium imaging or immunofluorescent labeling. Data were analyzed using multivariate regression analysis taking into account potentially confounding effects of relevant clinical factors Results: The L-type calcium current (I) density was diminished significantly in patients with chronic but not paroxysmal AF and the treatment of patients with β-blockers did not affect I density in any group. By contrast, the I frequency was elevated in patients with either paroxysmal or chronic AF that did not receive treatment, and β-blocker treatment reduced the frequency to levels observed in patients without AF. Confocal calcium imaging showed that β-blocker treatment also reduced the calcium spark frequency in patients with AF to levels observed in those without AF. Furthermore, phosphorylation of the ryanodine receptor (RyR2) at Ser-2808 and phospholamban at Ser-16 was significantly lower in patients with AF that received β-blockers. Conclusion: Together, our findings demonstrate that β-blocker treatment may be of therapeutic utility to prevent spontaneous calcium release-induced atrial electrical activity; especially in patients with a history of paroxysmal AF displaying preserved I density.