title: Rabbit models of cardiac mechano-electric and mechano-mechanical coupling.
abstract: Cardiac auto-regulation involves integrated regulatory loops linking electrics and mechanics in the heart. Whereas mechanical activity is usually seen as 'the endpoint' of cardiac auto-regulation, it is important to appreciate that the heart would not function without feed-back from the mechanical environment to cardiac electrical (mechano-electric coupling, MEC) and mechanical (mechano-mechanical coupling, MMC) activity. MEC and MMC contribute to beat-by-beat adaption of cardiac output to physiological demand, and they are involved in various pathological settings, potentially aggravating cardiac dysfunction. Experimental and computational studies using rabbit as a model species have been integral to the development of our current understanding of MEC and MMC. In this paper we review this work, focusing on physiological and pathological implications for cardiac function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. Electronic address: alex.quinn@dal.ca.
authors.forename: T Alexander
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.affiliation: Institute for Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine, University Heart Centre Freiburg - Bad Krozingen, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kohl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D011817:Rabbits
keywords: Atrium; Electrophysiology; Heart; Mechanics; Sinoatrial node; Slow force response; Ventricle