Molecular and cellular biochemistry
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Mol. Cell. Biochem. · Oct 1996
ReviewElucidating molecular mechanisms of septic cardiomyopathy--the cardiomyocyte model.
In the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome of sepsis and septic shock the heart is one of the organs subject to failure. Many new insights into the mechanisms underlying septic cardiomyopathy were gained in the last years. ⋯ These substances interfere at clinically relevant concentrations with several main inotropic axes, not only with the beta-adrenoceptor/adenylyl cyclase and with the NO-cGMP-system-on which most of the interest is focused at present-but also with the alpha 1-adrenoceptor/phosphoinositide pathway and the Ca2+ homeostasis of the cardiomyocyte, the latter representing the common final inotropic pathway. Not a single cardiodepressant factor, but more likely a total bunch of toxins and mediators with different attack mechanisms seem to contribute to the picture of septic cardiomyopathy.