Xanthohumol modulates calcium signaling in rat ventricular myocytes, with possible antiarrhythmic properties. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Xanthohumol Modulates Calcium Signaling in Rat Ventricular Myocytes: Possible Antiarrhythmic Properties.
J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2017 Jan ;360(1):239-248. Epub 2016 Nov 4. PMID: 27815365
Juan Jose Arnaiz-Cot
Cardiac arrhythmia is a major cause of mortality in cardiovascular pathologies. A host of drugs targeted to sarcolemmal Na(+), Ca(2+), and K(+) channels has had limited success clinically. Recently, Ca(2+) signaling has been target of pharmacotherapy based on finding that leaky ryanodine receptors elevate local Ca(2+) concentrations causing membrane depolarizations that trigger arrhythmias. In this study, we report that xanthohumol, an antioxidant extracted from hops showing therapeutic effects in other pathologies, suppresses aberrant ryanodine receptor Ca(2+) release. The effects of xanthohumol (5-1000 nM) on Ca(2+) signaling pathways were probed in isolated rat ventricular myocytes incubated with Fluo-4 AM using the perforated patch-clamp technique. We found that 5-50 nM xanthohumol reduced the frequency of spontaneously occurring Ca(2+) sparks (>threefold) and Ca(2+) waves in control myocytes and in cells subjected to Ca(2+) overload caused by the following: 1) exposure to low K(+) solutions, 2) periods of high frequency electrical stimulation, 3) exposures to isoproterenol, or 4) caffeine. At room temperatures, 50-100 nM xanthohumol reduced the rate of relaxation of electrically- or caffeine-triggered Ca(2+)transients, without suppressing ICa, but this effect was small and reversed by isoproterenol at physiologic temperatures. Xanthohumol also suppressed the Ca(2+) content of the SR and its rate of recirculation. The stabilizing effects of xanthohumol on the frequency of spontaneously triggered Ca(2+) sparks and waves combined with its antioxidant properties, and lack of significant effects on Na(+) and Ca(2+) channels, may provide this compound with clinically desirable antiarrhythmic properties.