Anti-Inflammatory and Antiarrhythmic Effects of Beta Blocker in a Rat Model of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

ABSTRACT: Background Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at twice the risk of ventricular arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death as the general population. We hypothesize that β-blocker treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is antiarrhythmic by producing synergistic anticatecholaminergic and anti-inflammatory effects. Methods and Results Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) was induced in Lewis rats by immunization with type II collagen in Freund's incomplete adjuvant. The treatment with propranolol (4 mg/kg) started on the first day of immunization. We evaluated the ventricular vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmia using in vivo programmed stimulation and performed ex vivo optical mapping to measure the electrical remodeling of the heart. The ventricular tissue was further processed for immunohistochemic

SUBMITTER: Lin TT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7726976 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature