Purinergic P2X receptors in the carotid body as new therapeutic targets for controlling heart failure.

Heart failure is associated with multiple mechanisms, including sympatho-excitation, and is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Enhanced carotid body chemoreflex function is strongly related to excessive sympathetic nerve activity and sleep-disordered breathing in heart failure. How to reduce the excitability of the carotid body is still scientifically challenging. Both clinical and experimental evidence have suggested that targeting purinergic receptors is of great potential to combat heart failure. In a recent study, Lataro et al. (Lataro et al. in Nat Commun 14:1725, 5) demonstrated that targeting purinergic P2X receptors in the carotid body attenuates the progression of heart failure. Using a series of molecular, biochemical, and functional assays, the authors observed that the carotid body generates spontaneous, episodic burst discharges coincident with the onset of disordered breathing in male rats with heart failure, which was generated by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. Moreover, P2X receptor expression was found to be upregulated in the petrosal ganglion chemoreceptive neurons of rats with heart failure. Of particular note, treatment with a P2X antagonist rescued pathological breathing disturbances, abolished episodic discharges, reinstated autonomic balance, attenuated cardiac dysfunction, and reduced the immune cell response and plasma cytokine levels in those rats.