Role of fibrosis and mechanical stretch in the genesis of atrial fibrillation

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24590487
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Experimental pathology
• Research Institution: Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: TANAKA Hideo 京都府立医科大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (60236619)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ADACHI Tetsuya 湊川短期大学, 教授 (60345014)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): MATSUYAMA Taka-aki 国立循環器病研究センター, 医員 (40349113)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 心房細動 / カルシウム / 線維化 / 心房 / ギャップ結合 / 心筋 / 興奮伝導

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This experimental study was conducted to test the possibility that regionally non-uniform mechanical stretch of atrial tissue with the adjacent fibrotic tissues contributes to genesis of atrial fibrillation (AF). By using fast fluorescence imaging of excitation patterns of the excised, perfused rat hearts, we found that 1) the culprit lesions of AF involve a significant increase in fibrosis and 2) rapid pacing of the atria exhibited spatiotemporally inhomogeneous calcium dynamics, both of which may lead to inhomogeneous atrial contractions and the resultant derangement of conduction.

Free Research Field

実験病理学