Moricizine prevents atrial fibrillation by late sodium current inhibition in atrial myocytes

Background: Enhanced late sodium current (INaL) is reportedly related to an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). Moricizine, as a widely used anti-arrhythmia drug for suppressing ventricular tachycardia, has also been shown to prevent paroxysmal AF. However, the mechanism of its therapeutic effect remains poorly understood. Methods: Angiotensin II (Ang II) was induced in C57Bl/6 mice (male wild-type) for 4 weeks to increase the susceptibility of AF, and acetylcholine-calcium chloride was used to induce AF. The whole-cell patch-clamp technique was used to detect INaL from isolated atrial myocytes. The expression of proteins in atrial of mice and HL-1 cells were examined by Western-blot. Results: The results showed that moricizine significantly inhibited Ang II-mediated atrial enlargement and reduced AF vulnerability. We found that the densities of INaL were enhanced in Ang II-treated left and right atrial cardiomyocytes. Simultaneously, the Ang II-induced increase in INaL currents density was alleviated by the administration of moricizine, and no alteration in Nav1.5 expression was observed. In normal isolated atrial myocytes, moricizine significantly reduced Sea anemone toxin II (ATX-II)-enhanced INaL density with a reduction of peak sodium currents. In addition, moricizine reduced the Ang II-induced upregulation of phosphorylated calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase-II (p-CaMKII) in both the left and right atria. In HL-1 cells, moricizine also reduced the upregulation of p-CaMKII with Ang II and ATX-II intervention, respectively. Conclusions: Our results indicate that Ang II enhances the INaL via activation of CaMKII. Moricizine inhibits INaL and reduces CaMKII activation, which may be one of the mechanisms of moricizine suppression of AF.