Hierarchical statistical techniques are necessary to draw reliable conclusions from analysis of isolated cardiomyocyte studies.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

It is generally accepted that post-MI heart failure (HF) changes a variety of aspects of sarcoplasmic reticular Ca2+ fluxes but for some aspects there is disagreement over whether there is an increase or decrease. The commonest statistical approach is to treat data collected from each cell as independent, even though they are really clustered with multiple likely similar cells from each heart. In this study, we test whether this statistical assumption of independence can lead the investigator to draw conclusions that would be considered erroneous if the analysis handled clustering with specific statistical techniques (hierarchical tests).

Methods and results

Ca2+ transients were recorded in cells loaded with Fura-2AM and sparks were recorded in cells loaded with Fluo-4A

SUBMITTER: Sikkel MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5852514 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature