Department III of Internal Medicine, Heart Center, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2020 Feb 3;10(1):1685. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-58797-8.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice and is known to be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Previous studies suggested a link between inflammation and AF by findings of increased inflammatory markers in AF patients. However, it has not been finally clarified whether inflammation is a systemic or a local phenomenon reflecting an active inflammatory process in the heart. To address this subject, human left atrial appendage tissues were obtained from 10 patients who underwent cardiac surgery and subjected to immunohistochemical analysis. The number of inflammatory CD3-positive T cells significantly increased from patients with sinus rhythm to paroxysmal AF and persistent AF, respectively. Interestingly, in patients with persistent AF, these cells were frequently arranged in small clusters. Subsequently, the number of inflammatory CD3-positive T cells decreased and was significantly lower in patients with permanent AF than in patients with persistent AF. Inflammatory CD20-positive B cells could only be detected very occasionally in all AF subgroups and were not locatable in patients with SR. Hence, our data emphasize the potential prominent role of the cellular component of the immune system in the development and perpetuation of AF.
心房颤动（AF）是临床实践中最常见的持续性心律失常，已知与显著的发病率和死亡率相关。先前的研究通过在 AF 患者中发现炎症标志物增加，提示炎症与 AF 之间存在关联。然而，炎症是全身性的还是局部现象，反映了心脏内的活跃炎症过程，仍未最终阐明。为了解决这个问题，我们从 10 名接受心脏手术的患者中获得了左心耳组织，并进行了免疫组织化学分析。从窦性节律患者到阵发性 AF 和持续性 AF 患者，炎症性 CD3 阳性 T 细胞的数量分别显著增加。有趣的是，在持续性 AF 患者中，这些细胞经常排列成小簇。随后，炎症性 CD3 阳性 T 细胞的数量减少，永久性 AF 患者的数量明显低于持续性 AF 患者。在所有 AF 亚组中，炎症性 CD20 阳性 B 细胞只能偶尔检测到，在窦性节律患者中无法定位。因此，我们的数据强调了免疫系统的细胞成分在 AF 的发展和持续中的潜在重要作用。
