title: The effects of activated complement on myocardial performance in vitro.
abstract: Activated complement has been implicated in the dysfunction of several organ systems, but can it directly affect the myocardium? This possibility was studied using human right atrial trabeculae contracting isometrically "in vitro" in four solutions: Tyrode's (T), autologous arterial blood (B), plasma (P) and denaturated plasma (DP). Complement was activated by the addition of Zymosan while vehicle alone was used as control. Complement activation occurred in the blood and plasma solutions, as assessed by a significant drop in CH50 (p less than 0.05), while there was no detectable complement activity in either T or DP. Myocardial functional integrity was assessed by the change in contractile parameters with time. Subsequent resting forces, relative developed forces (DF), and rates of decay of DF were similar between muscles contracting in the four solutions. We conclude that activated complement has no direct effect on myocardial performance.
authors.affiliation: University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa Civic Hospital, Canada.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hendry
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Taichman
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Biro
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Filion
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Keon
mesh_terms: D001769:Blood; D003167:Complement Activation; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007552:Isotonic Solutions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D010949:Plasma; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007552:Isotonic Solutions; C037692:Tyrode's solution; D003165:Complement System Proteins