Roddy Hiram1, Patrice Naud1, Feng Xiong2, Doa'a Al-U'datt1, Vincent Algalarrondo1, Martin G Sirois1, Jean-François Tanguay1, Jean-Claude Tardif1, Stanley Nattel3. 1. Montreal Heart Institute (MHI), Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 2. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 3. Montreal Heart Institute (MHI), Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; IHU Liryc and Fondation Bordeaux Université, Bordeaux, France; Institute of Pharmacology, West German Heart and Vascular Center, Faculty of Medicine, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany. Electronic address: stanley.nattel@icm-mhi.org.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Conditions affecting the right heart, including diseases of the lungs and pulmonary circulation, promote atrial fibrillation (AF), but the mechanisms are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine whether right heart disease promotes atrial arrhythmogenesis in a rat model of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and, if so, to define the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: PH was induced in male Wistar rats with a single intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg/kg of monocrotaline, and rats were studied 21 days later when right heart disease was well developed. AF vulnerability was assessed in vivo and in situ, and mechanisms were defined by optical mapping, histochemistry, and biochemistry. RESULTS: Monocrotaline-treated rats developed increased right ventricular pressure and mass, along with right atrial (RA) enlargement. AF/flutter was inducible in 32 of 32 PH rats (100%) in vivo and 11 of 12 (92%) in situ, versus 2 of 32 (6%) and 2 of 12 (17%), respectively, in control rats (p < 0.001 vs. PH for each). PH rats had significant RA (16.1 ± 0.5% of cross-sectional area, vs. 3.0 ± 0.6% in control) and left atrial (LA: 11.8 ± 0.5% vs. 5.4 ± 0.8% control) fibrosis. Multiple extracellular matrix proteins, including collagen 1 and 3, fibronectin, and matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9, were up-regulated in PH rat RA. Optical mapping revealed significant rate-dependent RA conduction slowing and rotor activity, including stable rotors in 4 of 11 PH rats, whereas no significant conduction slowing or rotor activity occurred in the LA of monocrotaline-treated rats. Transcriptomic analysis revealed differentially enriched genes related to hypertrophy, inflammation, and fibrosis in RA of monocrotaline-treated rats versus control. Biochemical results in PH rats were compared with those of AF-prone rats with atrial remodeling in the context of left ventricular dysfunction due to myocardial infarction: myocardial infarction rat LA shared molecular motifs with PH rat RA. CONCLUSIONS: Right heart disease produces a substrate for AF maintenance due to RA re-entrant activity, with an underlying substrate prominently involving RA fibrosis and conduction abnormalities.
BACKGROUND: Conditions affecting the right heart, including diseases of the lungs and pulmonary circulation, promote atrial fibrillation (AF), but the mechanisms are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine whether right heart disease promotes atrial arrhythmogenesis in a rat model of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and, if so, to define the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: PH was induced in male Wistar rats with a single intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg/kg of monocrotaline, and rats were studied 21 days later when right heart disease was well developed. AF vulnerability was assessed in vivo and in situ, and mechanisms were defined by optical mapping, histochemistry, and biochemistry. RESULTS:Monocrotaline-treatedrats developed increased right ventricular pressure and mass, along with right atrial (RA) enlargement. AF/flutter was inducible in 32 of 32 PH rats (100%) in vivo and 11 of 12 (92%) in situ, versus 2 of 32 (6%) and 2 of 12 (17%), respectively, in control rats (p < 0.001 vs. PH for each). PH rats had significant RA (16.1 ± 0.5% of cross-sectional area, vs. 3.0 ± 0.6% in control) and left atrial (LA: 11.8 ± 0.5% vs. 5.4 ± 0.8% control) fibrosis. Multiple extracellular matrix proteins, including collagen 1 and 3, fibronectin, and matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9, were up-regulated in PH ratRA. Optical mapping revealed significant rate-dependent RA conduction slowing and rotor activity, including stable rotors in 4 of 11 PH rats, whereas no significant conduction slowing or rotor activity occurred in the LA of monocrotaline-treatedrats. Transcriptomic analysis revealed differentially enriched genes related to hypertrophy, inflammation, and fibrosis in RA of monocrotaline-treatedrats versus control. Biochemical results in PH rats were compared with those of AF-prone rats with atrial remodeling in the context of left ventricular dysfunction due to myocardial infarction: myocardial infarctionrat LA shared molecular motifs with PH ratRA. CONCLUSIONS: Right heart disease produces a substrate for AF maintenance due to RA re-entrant activity, with an underlying substrate prominently involving RAfibrosis and conduction abnormalities.
Authors: Mitchel R Stacy; Ben A Lin; Stephanie L Thorn; David C Lobb; Mark W Maxfield; Craig Novack; Kia N Zellars; Lisa Freeburg; Joseph G Akar; Albert J Sinusas; Francis G Spinale Journal: Heart Rhythm Date: 2022-01-21 Impact factor: 6.779