Effects of cesium on spontaneous rate in right atria isolated from diabetic rats.

Previous studies have shown that streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes in rats is associated with a decrease in the spontaneous rate of isolated right atria. Present experiments were designed to determine whether this model of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus alters the chronotropic actions of cesium (Cs+). Right atrial preparations were isolated from STZ-treated and diluent-treated control rats, and bathed in Krebs-Henseleit buffer at 37 degrees C; dose-dependent (0.2-10 mM) effects of Cs+ were examined by cumulative addition. Preparations isolated from diabetic rats had a slower beating rate before exposure to Cs+, and the negative chronotropic response to this cation was diminished in these tissues. In fact, at concentrations between 2 and 10 mM Cs+, spontaneous rate did not differ between the diabetic and control groups. These data suggest that the hyperpolarization-activated current, I(f), may play a role in the slower spontaneous pacemaker rate observed in right atria isolated from STZ-induced diabetic rats.