Computational models of the heart and their use in assessing the actions of drugs.
Models of cardiac cells are sufficiently well developed to answer questions concerning the actions of drugs on repolarization and the initiation of arrhythmias. These models can be used to characterize drug-receptor action profiles that would be expected to avoid arrhythmia and so help to identify drugs that may be safer. Several examples of such action profiles are presented here, including a recently-developed blocker of persistent sodium current, ranolazine. The models have also been incorporated into tissue and organ models that enable arrhythmia to be modelled also at these levels. Work at these levels can reproduce both re-entrant arrhythmia and fibrillation.
Noble
Denis
D
Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. denis.noble@physiol.ox.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000502:physiology; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000502:physiology
D015221:Potassium Channels; D015222:Sodium Channels; D002118:Calcium