Abstract
Chronic ethanol consumption elicits a progressive cardiac contractile dysfunction, and studies in rats suggest that this alcoholic heart muscle disease is more pronounced in males than females. Cellular changes associated with the ethanol-induced cardiotoxicity remain largely undefined; however, it is possible that L-type Ca 2+ channel current ( I Ca,L) is affected. Using whole-cell patch-clamp techniques, this study examined I Ca,L in adult ventricular myocytes isolated from male and female P-rats that had consumed drinking water (controls) or a 25% ethanol/water mixture for 14 months. The peak amplitude and maximum conductance of I Ca,L were 32 and 26% greater, respectively, in cardiomyocytes isolated from ethanol-consuming compared to control male rats. In contrast, no differences in the amplitude or conductance of I Ca,L were observed when comparing myocytes isolated from control and ethanol-consuming females. Ethanol treatment had no significant effects on the kinetics I Ca,L inactivation or on steady-state activation and inactivation in either gender. In conclusion, male but not female cardiomyocytes respond to chronic ethanol consumption with an increased I Ca,L that may represent a compensatory response to the depressed contractility.
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