ABSTRACT
Objective To establish a stable method for acute isolation of atrial myocytes in diabetic rats,so as to provide materials for electrophysio?logical study of diabetic rats. Methods Streptozotocin(STZ)was used to establish type I diabetic model. Atrial myocytes were isolated with modi?fied perfusion buffer by Langendorff perfusion. The atrial myocytes were morphologically observed with optical microscope and identified by morphol?ogy and immunofluorescence staining. The action potential was recorded by patch clamp technique. Results STZ can establish a stable type I dia?betic model. The modified perfusion method can yield calcium tolerant and spindle shaped atrial myocytes. Immunofluorescence indicated that atrial myocytes were positive for Kv1.5 which was expressed in atrial myocytes. The atrial myocytes obtained by this method were able to generate action po?tentials. Conclusion The modified perfusion method is suitable for acute isolation of atrial myocytes in rats with diabetes mellitus,which may help to study the electrophysiology of diabetic heart.