Increased Ca buffering underpins remodelling of Ca2+ handling in old sheep atrial myocytes

摘要

Key points class="unordered" style="list-style-type:disc" id="tjp12537-list-0001">Ageing is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and arrhythmias, with the most common arrhythmia being found in the atria of the heart.Little is known about how the normal atria of the heart remodel with age and thus why dysfunction might occur.We report alterations to the atrial systolic Ca²⁺ transient that have implications for the function of the atrial in the elderly.We describe a novel mechanism by which increased Ca buffering can account for changes to systolic Ca²⁺ in the old atria.The present study helps us to understand how the processes regulating atrial contraction are remodelled during ageing and provides a basis for future work aiming to understand why dysfunction develops.