Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Højbakkegaard Allé 5, 2630, Taastrup, Denmark.
Laboratory of Cardiac Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200, Copenhagen, Denmark.
J Cardiovasc Transl Res. 2023 Oct;16(5):1205-1219. doi: 10.1007/s12265-023-10378-6. Epub 2023 Apr 4.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is more prevalent in athletes, and currently, the mechanisms are not fully understood. Atrial fibrillation inducibility and stability was investigated in trained and untrained Standardbred racehorses. The horses underwent echocardiography for evaluation of atrial size. High-density mapping during AF was performed, and the presence of structural remodeling, as well as the expression of inflammatory and pro-inflammatory markers in the atria, was studied. Atrial fibrillation sustained significantly longer after tachypacing in the trained horses, whereas no difference in AF inducibility was found. The untrained horses displayed a significant difference in the AF complexity when comparing right and left atria, whereas such difference was not observed in the trained animals. No evidence of increased structural remodeling or inflammation could be identified. Left atrial dimensions were not significantly increased. The increased AF sustainability in trained horses was not related to fibrosis or inflammation as seen in other animal exercise models.
心房颤动（AF）在运动员中更为常见，目前其机制尚未完全阐明。本研究旨在探讨训练有素和未经训练的标准赛马的心房颤动可诱导性和稳定性。对这些马进行了超声心动图检查，以评估心房大小。在心房颤动期间进行了高密度映射，研究了结构重塑的存在以及心房中炎症和促炎标志物的表达。在训练有素的马中，快速起搏后心房颤动持续时间显著延长，而心房颤动的可诱导性无差异。未经训练的马在比较左右心房时，心房颤动的复杂性存在显著差异，而在训练有素的动物中则没有观察到这种差异。没有证据表明存在结构重塑或炎症增加。左心房的尺寸没有显著增加。训练有素的马中心房颤动持续时间的增加与纤维化或炎症无关，这与其他动物运动模型不同。
