Pharmacology Unit, Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
Neuropharmacology & Pain Group, Neuroscience Program, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Mar 27;22(7):3467. doi: 10.3390/ijms22073467.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia seen in clinical practice. While some clinical parameters may predict the transition from paroxysmal to persistent AF, the molecular mechanisms behind the AF perpetuation are poorly understood. Thus, oxidative stress, calcium overload and inflammation, among others, are believed to be involved in AF-induced atrial remodelling. Interestingly, adenosine and its receptors have also been related to AF development and perpetuation. Here, we investigated the expression of adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) both in right atrium biopsies and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from non-dilated sinus rhythm (ndSR), dilated sinus rhythm (dSR) and AF patients. In addition, plasma adenosine content and adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity in these subjects were also determined. Our results revealed increased A2AR expression in the right atrium from AF patients, as previously described. Interestingly, increased levels of adenosine content and reduced ADA activity in plasma from AF patients were detected. An increase was observed when A2AR expression was assessed in PBMCs from AF subjects. Importantly, a positive correlation (P=0.001) between A2AR expression in the right atrium and PBMCs was observed. Overall, these results highlight the importance of the A2AR in AF and suggest that the evaluation of this receptor in PBMCs may be potentially be useful in monitoring disease severity and the efficacy of pharmacological treatments in AF patients.
心房颤动（AF）是临床实践中最常见的心律失常形式。虽然一些临床参数可能预测阵发性到持续性 AF 的转变，但 AF 持续存在的分子机制仍知之甚少。因此，氧化应激、钙超载和炎症等被认为与 AF 引起的心房重构有关。有趣的是，腺苷及其受体也与 AF 的发生和持续有关。在这里，我们研究了腺苷 A2A 受体（A2AR）在非扩张窦律（ndSR）、扩张窦律（dSR）和 AF 患者的右心房活检和外周血单核细胞（PBMCs）中的表达。此外，还测定了这些受试者的血浆腺苷含量和腺苷脱氨酶（ADA）活性。我们的结果显示，AF 患者的右心房 A2AR 表达增加，如前所述。有趣的是，从 AF 患者的血浆中检测到腺苷含量增加和 ADA 活性降低。当评估 AF 受试者的 PBMCs 中的 A2AR 表达时，观察到增加。重要的是，观察到右心房和 PBMCs 中 A2AR 表达之间存在正相关（P=0.001）。总的来说，这些结果强调了 A2AR 在 AF 中的重要性，并表明在 PBMCs 中评估该受体可能有助于监测疾病严重程度和 AF 患者药物治疗的疗效。
