It is at this stage that cytokines may play a key role in cardiac function and regulation. In addition, cardiac muscle may be affected by cytokines during a variety of infections and inflammatory states. These mediators were selected because they are produced early in the inflammatory response to injury, are known to have effects on cells from many different lineages and are produced uniformly in the immune response, regardless of the initiating event. As such, IL-1 and TNF are likely candidates to influence myocyte function. Calcium transients in neonatal rat myocytes.
Numbers indicate nanomoles of systolic calcium.
The main feature to notice is the increase in calcium concentration, in this case, a rise in systolic calcium from 350 nanomoles to 700 nanomoles. Numbers are included due to a change in scale. In response to alprenolol, calcium transients are rapidly reduced to a point that control of calcium movement and response to pacing is lost. Isoproterenol increases heart rate and acts as a vaso- and bronchodilator. Cells were fluorescently labeled by a 30 minute exposure to Calcium Green in serum-free medium.