Considering the effects of alcohol on cardiac electrical behavior as well as the important role of the inward rectifier potassium current I K1 in arrhythmogenesis, this study was aimed at the effect of acetaldehyd e, the primary metabolite of ethanol, on I K1 in rat ventricular myocytes. Acetaldehyde induced a reversible inhibition of I K1 with IC 50 = 53.7± 7.7 μM at -110 mV; a significant inhibition was documented even at clinically -relevant concentrations (at 3 μM by 13.1 ±3.0 % ). The inhibition was voltage -independent at physiological voltages above - 90 mV. The I K1 changes under acetaldehyde may contribute to alcohol - induced alterations of cardiac electrophysiology, especially in individuals with a genetic defect of a ldehyde dehydrogenase where the acetaldehyde level may be elevated., M. Bébarová, P. Matejovič, M. Šimurdová, J. Šimurda., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Experiments were performed in C57BL/6J male mice to determine the effects of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor pyridostigmine bromide (PB) and stress on cardiovascular function, structure, and apoptosis. Mice were studied for seven days under the following conditions: Controls (osmotic minipump with saline), PB (10 mg/kg/day, minipumps), shaker stress (45 stressors/day, minipump with saline) and PB+Stress combination. AChE activity was significantly reduced in all PB-treated mice. PB caused no changes in 24-h mean arterial pressure (MAP) or heart rate (HR). Stress
increased 24-h MAP on day 1 and 24-h HR on day 7 in both Stress and PB+Stress groups. A significant reduction in the aortic wall thickness/diameter ratio (P <0.05 vs. control) and slightly reduced relative heart weight were observed in the PB group. These effects were blunted by simultaneous stress exposure. Immunochemistry was used to stain for Bax and Bcl-2 (apoptosis markers). There was a four-fold increase in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in the heart of PB and PB+Stress treated mice while an attenuation was observed in aortic endothelium. Results suggest that a relatively short-term continuous PB exposure may have adverse effects on the heart and blood vessels, independently of changes in MAP and HR.
An acid pH in the lumen of chloroplast thylakoids is necessary in order to derive the required amount of CO2 to account for the observed rates of carbon fixation. We point out that the endosymbiotic derivation of the chloroplast from a cyanobacterium would have resulted in the lumen of the thylakoid having an acid pH. The thylakoids of cyanobacteria are continuous with the plasma membrane, resulting in the lumen of the thylakoid being open to the outside of the cell. Endosymbiosis resulted in the cyanobacterium being taken up into a food vacuole of a protozoan. The vacuole would have had an acid pH, probably around pH 5, so the endosymbiotic bacterium would have been surrounded by an environment with an acidic pH. The lumen of the thylakoids would have been at an acid pH since they were open to the exterior of the cell, and to the contents of the vacuole. and R. E. Lee, P. Kugrens.