Clinical effects of long-term cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) in subjects with heart failure caused by left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

INTRODUCTION: Heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Despite advances in therapy, nearly half of patients receiving guideline-directed medical therapy remain limited by symptoms. Cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) can improve symptoms in this population, but efficacy and safety in prospective studies has been limited to 12 months of follow-up. We report on the first 2 year multi-site evaluation of CCM in patients with heart failure. METHODS: One hundred and forty-three subjects with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction were followed via clinical registry for 24 months recording NYHA class, MLWHFQ score, 6 min walk distance, LVEF, and peak VO2 at baseline and 6 month intervals as clinically indicated. Serious adverse events, and all cause as well as cardiovascular mortality were recorded. Data are presented stratified by LVEF (all subjects, LVEF <35%, LVEF ≥35%). RESULTS: One hundred and six subjects from 24 sites completed the 24 month follow-up. Baseline parameters were similar among LVEF groups. NYHA and MLWHFQ improved in all 3 groups at each time point. LVEF in the entire cohort improved 2.5, 2.9, 5.0, and 4.9% at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, respectively. Insufficient numbers of subjects had follow-up data for 6 min walk or peak VO2 assessment, precluding comparative analysis. Serious adverse events (n = 193) were observed in 91 subjects and similarly distributed between groups with LVEF <35% and LVEF ≥35%, and similar to other device trials for heart failure. Eighteen deaths (7 cardiovascularly related) over 2 years. Overall survival at 2 years was 86.4% (95% confidence intervals: 79.3, 91.2%). CONCLUSION: Cardiac contractility modulation provides safe and effective long-term symptomatic and functional improvement in heart failure. These benefits were independent of baseline LVEF and were associated with a safety profile similar to published device trials.

[Anticoagulation in patients with chronic kidney disease : Recommendations from the working group "Heart-Kidney" of the German Cardiac Society and the German Society of Nephrology]. / Antikoagulation bei Patienten mit chronischer Niereninsuffizienz : Empfehlungen der Arbeitsgemeinschaft "Herz ­ Niere" der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Kardiologie ­ Herz- und Kreislaufforschung und der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Nephrologie.

Indications for anticoagulation are thromboembolic events, prosthetic heart valves, and atrial fibrillation with a corresponding risk score. Clinical trials have excluded patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and these data cannot be always generalized to patients with chronic kidney disease. Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are mostly not recommended or are contraindicated in advanced stages of chronic kidney disease. Observational studies have shown that dialysis patients with atrial fibrillation do not profit from coumarin anticoagulants; prospective studies are lacking.

Therapeutic safety of high myocardial expression levels of the molecular inotrope S100A1 in a preclinical heart failure model.

Low levels of the molecular inotrope S100A1 are sufficient to rescue post-ischemic heart failure (HF). As a prerequisite to clinical application and to determine the safety of myocardial S100A1 DNA-based therapy, we investigated the effects of high myocardial S100A1 expression levels on the cardiac contractile function and occurrence of arrhythmia in a preclinical large animal HF model. At 2 weeks after myocardial infarction domestic pigs presented significant left ventricular (LV) contractile dysfunction. Retrograde application of AAV6-S100A1 (1.5 × 10(13) tvp) via the anterior cardiac vein (ACV) resulted in high-level myocardial S100A1 protein peak expression of up to 95-fold above control. At 14 weeks, pigs with high-level myocardial S100A1 protein overexpression did not show abnormalities in the electrocardiogram. Electrophysiological right ventricular stimulation ruled out an increased susceptibility to monomorphic ventricular arrhythmia. High-level S100A1 protein overexpression in the LV myocardium resulted in a significant increase in LV ejection fraction (LVEF), albeit to a lesser extent than previously reported with low S100A1 protein overexpression. Cardiac remodeling was, however, equally reversed. High myocardial S100A1 protein overexpression neither increases the occurrence of cardiac arrhythmia nor causes detrimental effects on myocardial contractile function in vivo. In contrast, this study demonstrates a broad therapeutic range of S100A1 gene therapy in post-ischemic HF using a preclinical large animal model.

[Renal replacement therapy for refractory heart failure]. / Nierenersatzverfahren bei therapierefraktärer Herzinsuffizienz.

After broad cardiological and nephrological evaluation and consideration of optimal conservative options according to national and international guidelines, renal replacement therapy might be helpful in patients with refractory heart failure even if they are not dialysis-dependent. This is even more important as renal failure is a strong predictor for mortality in patients with severe congestive heart failure (CHF) and CHF is one of the fastest growing morbidities in western countries. Although peritoneal dialysis (PD) is frequently used in patients with CHF its role remains unclear. Acute chronic volume overload in refractory CHF is still an unresolved clinical problem. In patients with acute heart and renal failure with need of management in an intensive care unit, extracorporeal ultrafiltration or a dialysis modality should be preferred. In patients with chronic refractory CHF, volume overload and renal failure, peritoneal dialysis should be the therapy of choice. Due to the limited data available, treatment and outcome parameters should be recorded in the registry of the German Society of Nephrology (http://www.herz-niere.de).

Derivation and validation of a simple clinical risk-model in heart failure based on 6 minute walk test performance and NT-proBNP status--do we need specificity for sex and beta-blockers?

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether risk prediction strategies in chronic heart failure (CHF) need to be specific for sex or beta-blockers. We examined this problem and developed and validated the consequent risk models based on 6-minute-walk-test and NT-proBNP. METHODS: The derivation cohort comprised 636 German patients with systolic dysfunction. They were validated against 676 British patients with similar aetiology. ROC-curves for 1-year mortality identified cut-off values separately for specificity (none, sex, beta-blocker, both). Patients were grouped according to number of cut-offs met (group I/II/III - 0/1/2 cut-offs). RESULTS: Widest separation between groups was achieved with sex- and beta-blocker-specific cut offs. In the derivation population, 1-year mortality was 0%, 8%, 31% for group I, II and III, respectively. In the validation population, 1-year rates in the three risk groups were 2%, 7%, 14%, respectively, after application of the same cut-offs. CONCLUSION: Risk stratification for CHF should perhaps take sex and beta-blocker usage into account. We derived and independently validated relevant risk models based on 6-minute-walk-tests and NT-proBNP. Specifying sex and use of beta-blockers identified three distinct sub-groups with widely differing prognosis. In clinical practice, it may be appropriate to tailor the intensity of follow-up and/or the treatment strategy according to the risk-group.

[Risk stratification and treatment of cardiac amyloidoses]. / Risikostratifizierung und Therapie kardialer Amyloidosen.

Cardiac amyloidoses are a heterogeneous group of cardiomyopathies that are resistant to treatment and are associated with a poor outcome. Standard heart failure treatment is usually not well tolerated and the underlying disease remains unaffected. The clinical picture is uncharacteristic. Cardiac amyloidosis is often associated with dysfunction of additional organs. Early cardiac amyloid involvement usually reveals left ventricular hypertrophy, impairment of longitudinal shortening and diastolic ventricular function. Without adequate therapy (bi-)ventricular hypertrophy will progress to severe systolic ventricular function decrease. The combination of low voltage pattern, left ventricular hypertrophy and granular sparkling is characteristic for advanced cardiac amyloid involvement. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and scintigraphy yield further information on the pattern and severity of cardiac involvement. In unclear cases (left ventricular) endomyocardial biopsy is necessary. Detection of early cardiac involvement and proper identification of patients at high risk for sudden cardiac death due to rapid progressive amyloidosis is still incompletely defined. Referral to specialized centers is strongly recommended.

The prognostic value of individual NT-proBNP values in chronic heart failure does not change with advancing age.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether age-related increases in N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) represent a normal physiological process-possibly affecting the prognostic power-of NT-proBNP-or reflect age-related subclinical pathological changes. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of age on the short-term prognostic value of NT-proBNP in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). DESIGN: Prospective observational study with inclusion and matching of consecutive patients aged >65 years (mean (SD) 73.1 (6.0) years) to patients <65 years (53.7 (8.6) years) with respect to NT-proBNP, New York Heart Association stage, sex and aetiology of CHF (final n = 443). SETTING: University hospital outpatient departments in the UK and Germany. PATIENTS: Chronic stable heart failure due to systolic left ventricular dysfunction. INTERVENTION: None. OUTCOME MEASURE: All-cause mortality. RESULTS: In both age groups, NT-proBNP was a significant univariate predictor of mortality, and independent of age, sex and other established risk markers. The prognostic information given by NT-proBNP was comparable between the two groups, as reflected by the 1-year mortality of 9% in both groups. The prognostic accuracy of NT-proBNP as judged by the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the prediction of 1-year mortality was comparable for elderly and younger patients (0.67 vs 0.71; p = 0.09). CONCLUSION: NT-proBNP reflects disease severity in elderly and younger patients alike. In patients with chronic stable heart failure, the NT-proBNP value carries the same 1-year prognostic information regardless of the age of the patient.

Relevance of laser irradiance threshold in the induction of alkaline phosphatase in human osteoblast cultures.

Induction of matrix synthesis by low-level laser has been demonstrated extensively. However, the question of dose- or power intensity-dependency is under-investigated. To address this issue we chose human osteoblast cell cultures and measured their alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity after laser irradiation. The cell cultures were irradiated periodically by 690 nm radiation via optical transmission fiber-based laser needles, reaching into the culture dishes. The osteoblasts showed no induction of ALP activity when we used a single laser needle stimulation with a laser irradiance of 51 mW/cm(2), an increase of approximately 43% at 102 mW/cm(2) irradiance (two needles per well) and a ninefold increase at 204 mW/cm(2) irradiance (four needles per well), leaving the temperature of the culture medium unaffected. We concluded that the osteoblastic response in ALP activity to a laser stimulus shows a logarithmic relationship, with a distinct threshold, rather than a linear dose-dependency. Secondly, the laser irradiance, rather than the dose, is relevant for the impact of the laser.

Guideline adherence for pharmacotherapy of chronic systolic heart failure in general practice: a closer look on evidence-based therapy.

BACKGROUND: There is robust evidence for effective pharmacotherapy of chronic (systolic) heart failure (CHF) which has led to the creation of guidelines, but many surveys evaluating CHF treatment show an under-utilisation of relevant drugs, while setting and patient population appear to be crucial for adequate appraisal of treatment patterns. AIMS: To evaluate the guideline adherence (GA) of general practitioners (GPs) in a well-defined patient population with CHF in primary care (PC). METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was performed with the data of 167 patients enrolled in 37 GP practices (Germany) with documented left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVEF: 33.3 +/- 6.9%). GA was assessed as usual (prescribing "yes" or "no"), through evaluation of target dosing, while adjusting for potential clinical contraindications, and through a modified Guideline Adherence Indicator-3 (mGAI-3), which assesses three relevant groups of substances according to New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class: ACE-Inhibitors (ACE-I) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB), beta-blockers (BB) and aldosterone-antagonists (AA). RESULTS: Prescription rates for ACE-I/ARB, BB or both were 80%, 75% and 62%, respectively. The proportion of target doses reached for ACE-I was 16%, for BB only 8%. When adjusted for potential (mainly relative) contraindications (COPD, heart rate <60/min, hypotension, hyperkalaemia and renal dysfunction), the percentage of target doses reached increased to 49% for ACE-I/ARBs and 46% for BB. Application of the mGAI-3 showed moderate to perfect GA for usual assessment, proportion of target dose reached and adjusted in 83%, 16% and 55% of the patients, respectively. CONCLUSION: In the context of this patient and doctor setting, life-saving treatment was provided above average when assessed by usual criteria. The application of additional criteria showed further room for improvement. Future interventions aiming at optimisation should be tailored to the needs of doctors and patients likewise.

Gender and age related predictive value of walk test in heart failure: do anthropometrics matter in clinical practice?

BACKGROUND: The six-minute walk test (6 WT) is a valid and reliable predictor of morbidity and mortality in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients, frequently used as an endpoint or target in clinical trials. As opposed to spiroergometry, improvement of its prognostic accuracy by correction for height, weight, age and gender has not yet been attempted comprehensively despite known influences of these parameters. METHODS: We recorded the 6 WT of 1035 CHF patients, attending clinic from 1995 to 2005. The 1-year prognostic value of 6 WT was calculated, alone and after correction for height, weight, BMI and/or age. Analysis was performed on the entire cohort, on males and females separately and stratified according to BMI (<25, 25-30 and >30 kg/m(2)). RESULTS: 6 WT weakly correlated with age (r=-0.32; p<0.0001), height (r=0.2; p<0.0001), weight (r=0.11; p<0.001), not with BMI (r=0.01; p=ns). The 6 WT was a strong predictor of 1-year mortality in both genders, both as a single and age corrected parameter. Parameters derived from correction of 6 WT for height, weight or BMI did not improve the prognostic value in univariate analysis for either gender. Comparison of the receiver operated characteristics showed no significant gain in prognostic accuracy from any derived variable, either for males or females. CONCLUSION: The six-minute walk test is a valid tool for risk prediction in both male and female CHF patients. In both genders, correcting 6 WT distance for height, weight or BMI alone, or adjusting for age, does not increase the prognostic power of this tool.

Differentiated expression patterns of growth factors in routine formalin-fixed endomyocardial biopsies in the early postoperative phase after heart transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) seem to play a key role in immunological reactions shortly after heart transplantation (HTx). The aim of this study was to analyze the time course of the expression of PDGF A and B, PDGF-receptor alpha (PDGF-Ralpha) and beta, aFGF, and bFGF on formalin-fixed routine endomyocardial biopsies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Right ventricular endomyocardial biopsies were obtained from 36 heart transplant recipients up to 2 weeks after HTx. According to the clinical course in the first postoperative year, 3 groups were formed: (1) clinically uneventful course (n = 12); (2) cardiac/systemic infections (n = 12); (3) acute rejection (n = 12). The growth factor expression was examined immunohistochemically. RESULTS: In the early phase after HTx, PDGF A, PDGF B, PDGF-Ralpha, and PDGF-Rbeta were predominantly expressed in endothelial cells. The main expression of PDGF-Ralpha and bFGF was found in cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells. During the first 2 postoperative weeks, PDGF A, PDGF B, and PDGF-Rbeta showed a similar time course of expression: A significantly elevated expression in the first week was followed by a decrease in the second week. In the rejection group, PDGF A was significantly elevated after the first week. CONCLUSIONS: The increased expression of PDGF in the first postoperative week can be interpreted as an unspecific reaction to peritransplant injury. The prolonged expression of PDGF A, PDGF B, and PDGF-Rbeta showed that there were ongoing immunological reactions in the transplant during week 2. The persistence of elevated PDGF A expression might be of prognostic value in terms of a risk factor for either infection or rejection.

Acupuncture treatment improves nerve conduction in peripheral neuropathy.

The etiology of peripheral neuropathy (PN) often remains elusive resulting in a lack of objective therapeutic strategies. We conducted a pilot study to evaluate the therapeutic effect of acupuncture on PN as measured by changes in nerve conduction and assessment of subjective symptoms. One hundred and ninety-two consecutive patients with PN as diagnosed by nerve conduction studies (NCS) were evaluated over a period of 1 year. Of 47 patients who met the criteria for PN of undefined etiology, 21 patients received acupuncture therapy according to classical Chinese Medicine as defined by the Heidelberg Model, while 26 patients received the best medical care but no specific treatment for PN. Sixteen patients (76%) in the acupuncture group improved symptomatically and objectively as measured by NCS, while only four patients in the control group (15%) did so. Three patients in the acupuncture group (14%) showed no change and two patients an aggravation (10%), whereas in the control group seven showed no change (27%) and 15 an aggravation (58%). Importantly, subjective improvement was fully correlated with improvement in NCS in both groups. The data suggest that there is a positive effect of acupuncture on PN of undefined etiology as measured by objective parameters.

Prognostic impact of peakVO2-changes in stable CHF on chronic beta-blocker treatment.

BACKGROUND: Peak oxygen uptake (pVO2) is used for risk stratification in chronic heart failure (CHF), but little is known about the prognostic impact of pVO2-changes in patients on chronic beta-blocker (BBL) therapy. We therefore prospectively evaluated individual pVO2-changes at a 6-month interval in patients all receiving BBL. METHODS: 194 patients with stable CHF on stable medication were included (V1) and underwent clinical evaluation and exercise testing. Testing was repeated (V2) at 5.7+/-1.5 months after V1 and patients were followed >12 months after V2. Death or hospitalisation due to cardiac reasons was the predefined EP (EPP, end-point positive; n=62; EPN, end-point negative; n=113). RESULTS: Initial characteristics did not differ between EPP and EPN. Multivariate cox regression analysis revealed that change of pVO2 (EPP: -0.6+/-2.6 ml/kg min; EPN: +2.5+/-3.3 ml/kg min; p<0.001) was independent to pVO2, LVEF, NTproBNP and NYHA at V2 for prediction of the combined end-point during follow-up. An increase of pVO2 by 10% was identified as an adequate cut-off value for risk stratification and ROC-analysis showed the significant incremental prognostic value of the determination of pVO2 changes in combination with pVO2. CONCLUSIONS: Serial measurements of pVO2 yield additional information for risk stratification in clinically homogenous CHF patients receiving BBL. This is the first study demonstrating this fact within a narrow predefined interval with all patients on BBL.

S100A1 gene transfer in myocardium.

S100A1, a Ca superset2+-binding protein of the EF-hand type, is preferentially expressed in myocardial tissue and has been shown to enhance cardiac contractile performance by regulating both sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca superset2+-handling and myofibrillar Ca superset2+-responsiveness. In cardiac disease, the expression of S100A1 is dynamically altered as it is significantly down-regulated in end stage human heart failure (HF), and it is up-regulated in compensated hypertrophy. Therefore, the delivery of a transgene encoding for S100A1 to the myocardium might be an attractive strategy for improving cardiac function in HF by replacing lost endogenous S100A1. In this study we sought to test whether exogenous S100A1 gene delivery to alter global cardiac function is feasible in the normal rabbit heart. An adenoviral S100A1 transgene (AdvS100A1) also containing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was delivered using an intracoronary injection method with a dose of 5 x 10 superset11 total virus particles (tvp) (n = 8). Rabbits treated with either a GFP-only adenovirus (AdvGFP) or saline were used as control groups (n = 11 each). Seven days after global myocardial in vivo gene delivery hemodynamic parameters were assessed. S100A1 overexpression as a result of the intracoronary delivery of AdvS100A1 significantly increased left ventricular (LV) +dP/dt subsetmax, -dP/dt subsetmin and systolic ejection pressure (SEP) compared to both control groups after administration of isoproterenol (0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 microg/kgBW/min), while contractile parameters remained unchanged under basal conditions. These results demonstrate that global myocardial in vivo gene delivery is possible and that myocardial S100A1 overexpression can increase cardiac performance. Therefore, substitution of down-regulated S100A1 protein expression levels may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for improving the cardiac performance of the failing heart.

The Eurotransplant High-Urgency Heart Transplantation Program: an option for patients in acute heart failure?

OBJECTIVE: The Eurotransplant High-Urgency (HU) Heart Transplantation Program allows urgent heart transplants to be carried out in rapidly deteriorating patients with acute-to-chronic heart failure on the elective waiting list. But do the results of HU heart transplantation justify performing primary heart transplantation in these critically ill patients and offer an acceptable outcome? METHODS: Between 2000 and 2004, 64 heart transplantations (HTx) (32 elective and 32 HU-HTx) were performed in our department. After having been accepted in an auditing process based on HU criteria, intensive care patients in NYHA functional class IV (cardiac index 1.7 l/min/qm BS), in end-organ failure (creatinine 1.5 mg/dl), and with catecholamine dependence (dobutamine 8 microg/kg/min), are given priority with respect to organ allocation, and their data were compared to data from elective patients from the same period. RESULTS: HU requests were accepted in 97 % of cases. Two requests were not accepted, and both patients with contraindications for assist device implantation died within one week. The HU patients were 100 % in NYHA class IV, 93 % of the elective patients were in NYHA class III. Waiting time on the HU list was 13 days, and 7 of these patients died before HTx. Following heart transplantation, survival rates at 30 days and at one year of the HU group were 88 % and 85 % versus 94 % and 93 % in the elective group. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that end-stage heart failure patients in the HU program can be transplanted primarily with good results if an organ is available in time. We are still in the position where the HU program only manages the organ shortage; there are still too many patients on the waiting list who die before receiving a donor organ.

[Telemonitoring in chronic heart failure patients. Which diagnostic finding prevents hospital readmission?]. / Telemedizinisches Monitoring bei herzinsuffizienten Patienten Welche. Befundkonstellation verhindert die stationäre Wiedereinweisung?

Heart failure exhibits a significant clinical and health economic problem. The implementation of new therapeutic strategies favorably affecting the course of disease is still insufficient in day-to-day practice. Thus, the usage of telemedicine offers a central instrument for service and information, so that an optimized therapy can be achieved by consequent surveillance of the patient with chronic heart disease. Predefined vital parameters are automatically transmitted to the telemedicine center; if individually predefined limits are exceeded, therapeutic means are immediately initiated. For the patient, the center is attainable 24 h throughout the year in case he experiences cardio-pulmonary symptoms. This patient-oriented usage of technology should not replace the physician-patient relationship, but improves and supports the participation and self-management of patients. Furthermore, the results show that this technology can significantly reduce the amount of emergency physician services, hospital admissions and primary care physician visits, and displays for health economics purposes a clearly more cost-effective treatment strategy, while allowing for additional costs inherent to the system. The usage of telemonitoring in chronic heart failure patients may be a trendsetting form of care, which can be used to drastically optimize the information and data flow between patient, hospital and primary care physician individually and at any time.

Effects of intracoronary low-dose enalaprilat as an adjunct to primary percutaneous transluminal coronary angiography in acute myocardial infarction.

Bradykinin accumulation is a potent cardioprotective mechanism underlying angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition in ischemia and/or reperfusion injury. There is, however, concern about treatment with ACE inhibitors in the very early phase of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) due to adverse systemic hemodynamic effects. We tested the hypothesis that cardiac bradykinin metabolism can be influenced by very low doses of intracoronary ACE inhibitors without harmful systemic effects in patients with AMI. Twenty-two patients with AMI in Killip classes II to III who underwent primary percutaneous transluminal coronary angiography (PTCA) were randomized to intracoronary enalaprilat (50 microg) or saline, given immediately after reopening of the infarct-related artery. Hemodynamics and electrocardiograms were monitored continuously and samples for determination of ACE activity, angiotensin II, bradykinin, kininogen, and cardiac marker proteins were collected from pulmonary arterial and central venous blood. Enalaprilat had no adverse effects on systemic hemodynamics, but rather stabilized arterial pressure and cardiac rhythm during reperfusion. Enalaprilat induced a 70% reduction of ACE activity and a significant increase of bradykinin in pulmonary arterial blood. Angiotensin II was not significantly affected by enalaprilat either in pulmonary arterial or in central venous blood. Myoglobin release was lower and the duration of reperfusion arrhythmias was significantly reduced in the enalaprilat group (p <0.05). Thus, in this pilot study, intracoronary enalaprilat infusion in the infarct-related artery is feasible in the setting of primary angioplasty and is safe and well tolerated. Effective cardiac ACE inhibition can be achieved by low-dose intracoronary enalaprilat, which primarily causes a potentiation of bradykinin.

S100A1: a regulator of myocardial contractility.

S100A1, a Ca(2+) binding protein of the EF-hand type, is preferentially expressed in myocardial tissue and has been found to colocalize with the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and the contractile filaments in cardiac tissue. Because S100A1 is known to modulate SR Ca(2+) handling in skeletal muscle, we sought to investigate the specific role of S100A1 in the regulation of myocardial contractility. To address this issue, we investigated contractile properties of adult cardiomyocytes as well as of engineered heart tissue after S100A1 adenoviral gene transfer. S100A1 gene transfer resulted in a significant increase of unloaded shortening and isometric contraction in isolated cardiomyocytes and engineered heart tissues, respectively. Analysis of intracellular Ca(2+) cycling in S100A1-overexpressing cardiomyocytes revealed a significant increase in cytosolic Ca(2+) transients, whereas in functional studies on saponin-permeabilized adult cardiomyocytes, the addition of S100A1 protein significantly enhanced SR Ca(2+) uptake. Moreover, in Triton-skinned ventricular trabeculae, S100A1 protein significantly decreased myofibrillar Ca(2+) sensitivity ([EC(50%)]) and Ca(2+) cooperativity, whereas maximal isometric force remained unchanged. Our data suggest that S100A1 effects are cAMP independent because cellular cAMP levels and protein kinase A-dependent phosphorylation of phospholamban were not altered, and carbachol failed to suppress S100A1 actions. These results show that S100A1 overexpression enhances cardiac contractile performance and establish the concept of S100A1 as a regulator of myocardial contractility. S100A1 thus improves cardiac contractile performance both by regulating SR Ca(2+) handling and myofibrillar Ca(2+) responsiveness.