title: The Significance of the Late Na+Current for Arrhythmia Induction and the Therapeutic Antiarrhythmic Potential of Ranolazine.
abstract: The purpose of this article is to review the basis of arrhythmogenesis, the functional and clinical role of the late Na current, and its therapeutic inhibition. Under pathological conditions such as ischemia and heart failure this current is abnormally enhanced and influences cellular electrophysiology as a proarrhythmic substrate in myocardial pathology. Ranolazine the only approved late Na current blocker has been demonstrated to produce antiarrhythmic effects in the atria and the ventricle. We summarize recent experimental and clinical studies of ranolazine and other experimental late Na current blockers and discuss the significance of the available data.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Cardiology and Pneumology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Fleur E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Cardiology and Pneumology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.|2 Department of Internal Medicine III (Cardiology and Angiology), University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany.|3 German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Göttingen & Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sossalla
keywords: CaMKII; arrhythmias; atrial fibrillation; ion channels; late Na current; ranolazine