Abstract
Aims/hypothesis. To identify the possible causes of the lengthening of the action potential duration described in patients affected by diabetes mellitus.¶Methods. We studied the effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on the current density of the repolarising potassium currents Ito, IK, Iss and IK1 in enzymatically isolated myocytes from three different regions of rat heart: total right ventricle, subepicardium at the apex of the left ventricle and subendocardium at the base of the left ventricle.¶Results. No changes in IK1 were found due to diabetes, but there was a uniform decrease in Ito (50 %) and Iss (40 %) current densities in the three regions. In contrast, IK diminished unevenly, with the greatest decrease in the subendocardium at the base of the left ventricle (48 %), followed by the subepicardium at the apex of the left ventricle (32 %) and right ventricle (10 %).¶Conclusion/interpretation. These findings suggest the existence of regional differences in ion channel expression associated with diabetes. The decrease of these repolarising currents could account for the lengthening of action potential and the consequent change in the Q-T interval of the ECG observed in diabetic rats. [Diabetologia (2000) 43: 101–109]
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received: 30 March 1999 and in revised form: 23 June 1999
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Casis, O., Gallego, M., Iriarte, M. et al. Effects of diabetic cardiomyopathy on regional electrophysiologic characteristics of rat ventricle. Diabetologia 43, 101–109 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001250050013
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001250050013