leptin and Tachycardia--Ventricular

Leptin is a peptide hormone produced by adipose tissue whose basic function is regulating energy balance and sympathetic outflow. Previous studies have shown that increased nerve activity of the left stellate ganglion (LSG) promotes ventricular arrhythmia (VA).. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether leptin could facilitate VA through activation of the LSG.. Sixteen pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs were divided into a control group (saline; n = 8) and a leptin group (leptin; n = 8). Microinjections of either 0.1 mL saline or leptin (18 μg) were injected into the LSG. Action potential duration (APD) of the myocyte and the function and neural activity of the LSG were measured at different time points. VA induced by occlusion of the left anterior descending branch was continuously measured for 1 hour. At the end of the experiment, the LSG tissues were collected for molecular detections.. Compared with the control group, leptin microinjection resulted in (1) significant enhancement in the incidence of VA; (2) significant decrease in APD and increase in APD dispersion; and (3) significant increase in the function and neural activity of the LSG. Mechanistically, the leptin receptor was found in the LSG, and its signaling was significantly activated in the leptin-injected group. Additionally, leptin microinjection markedly increased the expression of proinflammatory cytokines.. LSG activation induced by leptin microinjection promotes ischemia-induced VAs. Activated leptin receptor signaling and up-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines in the LSG may be responsible for these effects.

Topics: Action Potentials; Animals; Disease Models, Animal; Dogs; Electrocardiography; Injections; Leptin; Male; Myocardial Ischemia; Stellate Ganglion; Sympathetic Nervous System; Tachycardia, Ventricular

Leptin has been proposed to modulate cardiac electrical properties via β-adrenergic receptor activation. The presence of leptin receptors and adipocytes in myocardium raised a question as to whether leptin can directly modulate cardiac electrical properties such as heart rate and QT interval via its receptor. In this work, the role of local direct actions of leptin on heart rate and ventricular repolarization was investigated. We identified the protein expression of leptin receptors at cell surface of sinus node, atrial, and ventricular myocytes isolated from rat heart. Leptin at low doses (0.1-30 μg/kg) decreased resting heart rate; at high doses (150-300 μg/kg), leptin induced a biphasic effect (decrease and then increase) on heart rate. In the presence of high-dose propranolol (30 mg/kg), high-dose leptin only reduced heart rate and sometimes caused sinus pauses and ventricular tachycardia. The leptin-induced inhibition of resting heart rate was fully reversed by leptin antagonist. Leptin also increased heart rate-corrected QT interval (QTc), and leptin antagonist did not. In isolated ventricular myocytes, leptin (0.03-0.3 μg/ml) reversibly increased the action potential duration. These results supported our hypothesis that in addition to indirect pathway via sympathetic tone, leptin can directly decrease heart rate and increase QT interval via its receptor independent of β-adrenergic receptor stimulation. During inhibition of β-adrenergic receptor activity, high concentration of leptin in myocardium can cause deep bradycardia, prolonged QT interval, and ventricular arrhythmias.

Topics: Action Potentials; Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; Animals; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Heart; Heart Atria; Heart Rate; Heart Ventricles; Leptin; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Myocardium; Myocytes, Cardiac; Patch-Clamp Techniques; Propranolol; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Rats, Zucker; Receptors, Leptin; Sinoatrial Node; Tachycardia, Ventricular