ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the relatonahip between TNF-α and ventricular arrhythmias after acute myocardial infarction(AMI)and its mechanism.Method Both the clinical and animal experiments were done.(1)Clinical experiment:Eighty patients with AMI were included in Union Hospital,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Techology,from May 2005 to November 2006 according to the WHO diagnostic criteria.Co-infection of diseases such as severe upper respiratory infection,lung infection,high fever,cancer,et al were excluded.The relationship between the levels of TNF-α and arrhythmias were observed at different times after AMI.A straight line correlation,analysis Was done.(2)Animal experiment:Different concentrations of TNF-αwere added to isohted rat hearts for observing the arrhythrnia effects.The effect of TNF-α on intracellular Ca2+ concentration was detected by laser confocal technique.All data were analyzed by SNK-q test using SPSS 13.0 sofeware prograrn.Results(1)The plasma levels of TNF-α were significantly associated with the Lown class of PVC after AMI and they were higher in AMI of anterior wall[(46.41±10.34)pg/ml]than other positions [(28.25±6.35)pg/ml,P<0.05].2)The frequency of ventricular arrhythmias was interrelated with the concentralions of TNF-α.Using etanercept beforehand,TNF-α induced a slight increase of intracellular Ca2+ intensity (P<0.05).Conclusions There was a relationship between TNF-αlevels and ventricular arrhythmisa in patients with AMI.Animal experiments confirmed the isolated heart perfusion with TNF-α induced ventricular arrhytrnias.Expression of TNF-α after AMI was related with the occurrence of ventricular arrhythrnias.The effect might be associated with the increased inuaeellular Ca2+ intensity caused by TNF-α.