Skip Navigation

Cardiovascular Research 1997 36(1):10-20; doi:10.1016/S0008-6363(97)00174-0
© 1997 by European Society of Cardiology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lee, J.A
Right arrow Articles by Allen, D.G
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lee, J.A
Right arrow Articles by Allen, D.G
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Copyright © 1997, European Society of Cardiology

Calcium sensitisers: mechanisms of action and potential usefulness as inotropes

J.A Leea,* and D.G Allenb

aUniversity Department of Pathology, The Medical School, Beech Hill Road, Sheffield, S10 2RX, UK
bDepartment of Physiology, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia

* Corresponding author.

Received 22 April 1997; accepted 26 June 1997

KEYWORDS Cardiotonic agents; Calcium sensitisers; Heart failure; Inotropic agents; Cardiac muscle; Intracellular calcium

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.


   1 Introduction
 
Heart failure remains a common and lethal condition, with treatment options which are less than satisfactory. Epidemiological studies [1–5]indicate an overall prevalence in the population of 1–3%, while mortality for all grades of heart failure is approximately 25% at 2 years and 50% at 4 years. Severe heart failure has a 2 year mortality as high as 75%. Although some cases are caused by correctable problems such as hypertension or valve lesions, the majority result either from loss of functioning myocardium due to ischaemic damage or from ineffective contraction of partially ischaemic or otherwise functionally disabled myocardium.

Therapy for heart failure thus has two main objectives [6–12]. Firstly, treatment of the failing pump and its main physiological consequences, fluid retention and vasoconstriction. Secondly treatment of the common associated problems which may be either primarily involved in causing heart failure (e.g. ischaemia) or which may be secondary complications (e.g. . . . [Full Text of this Article]


   2 Heart muscle activation
 

   3 Mechanisms of inotropy
 

   4 Calcium sensitisers
 

   5 Mechanisms of action of calcium sensitisers
 

   6 Effects on energetic efficiency
 

   7 Slowing of relaxation
 

   8 Potential usefulness of calcium sensitisers as inotropes
 
8.1 Effects on diseased muscle
8.2 Arrhythmias
8.3 In vivo studies

   9 Conclusions
 

Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 BMJHome page
J. A Lee and D. G Allen
Search for better inotropic drugs should continue
BMJ, August 15, 1998; 317(7156): 476a - 476.
[Full Text]

Home page
 Cardiovasc ResHome page
S. U Sys, G. W De Keulenaer, and D. L Brutsaert
Physiopharmacological evaluation of myocardial performance: how to study modulation by cardiac endothelium and related humoral factors?
Cardiovasc Res, July 1, 1998; 39(1): 136 - 147.
[Full Text] [PDF]