What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Other. Population: Heart failure and non-diseased donor hearts (n=5). Intervention: Dobutamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, levosimendan, and enoximone vs. Left ventricular slices. Primary outcome: Relative increase in maximum force amplitude (Fmax) from baseline after dobutamine administration at EC50 (3 µM) (p=0.026).

What question did this study set out to answer?

This study compares the contractile properties of right and left ventricular myocardial slices and evaluates the effects of specific drugs.

May 13, 2026Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research0 citationsOpen Access

Ventricle-Specific Biomechanical Responses to Inotropic and Vasoactive Drugs in Human Myocardial Slices

SLSanne J.J. LangmuurErasmus MC JAJorik H. AmeszLeiden University Medical Center RSRahi S. Alipour SymakaniErasmus MC

Key Result

Right ventricular living myocardial slices exhibited a significantly greater relative increase in maximum force amplitude in response to dobutamine compared to left ventricular slices (399% vs 236%).

Key Points

This study compares the contractile properties of right and left ventricular myocardial slices and evaluates the effects of specific drugs.
Produced 63 myocardial slices from 5 explanted hearts (33 RV, 30 LV).
Evaluated baseline biomechanical properties and drug responses in both ventricles.
Administered dobutamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, levosimendan, and enoximone to the slices.
RV slices demonstrated higher maximum contraction force, steeper dF/dt, and faster contraction velocity compared to LV slices.
Dobutamine had a significantly greater effect on RV slices than LV slices.
Irregular spontaneous contractions were noted following administration of noradrenaline, adrenaline, and dobutamine.

Structured PICO

Do inotropic and vasoactive drugs elicit different biomechanical responses in right versus left ventricular human myocardial slices?

Population

63 human living myocardial slices (33 right ventricular, 30 left ventricular) produced from 5 explanted hearts

Intervention

Administration of inotropic and vasoactive drugs (dobutamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, levosimendan, and enoximone)

Comparator

Baseline biomechanical contractile properties and comparison between right and left ventricular slices

Outcome

Biomechanical contractile properties including maximum contraction force, contraction duration, time to peak, time to relaxation, dF/dt, and peak areasurrogate

Right ventricular human myocardial slices exhibit stronger baseline contractility and a greater response to dobutamine than left ventricular slices, suggesting the need for ventricle-specific therapeutic approaches.

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 399% vs 236%

p-value: p=0.026

Limitations

Tissue was derived from a heterogeneous group of patients
Short time period between titrations may have led to interactions between drugs, residual drug effects, or short-term desensitization
Medications were added in equal concentrations, which may differ from clinical target plasma concentrations
The model lacks systemic factors such as afterload, neural influence, and hormonal effects
No correction for multiple testing was applied
The biomimetic cultivation chamber lacks afterload and uses a glucose-based medium, decreasing physiological resemblance

Abstract

Abstract This study aimed to compare baseline biomechanical contractile properties between right (RV) and left ventricular (LV) human living myocardial slices (LMS) and explore the effect of dobutamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, levosimendan and enoximone in both ventricles. Sixty-three slices (33 RV, 30 LV) were produced from 5 explanted hearts. At baseline, RV LMS had a higher maximum contraction force, shorter contraction duration, time to peak and time to relaxation, steeper dF/dt and a larger peak area than LV LMS. Dobutamine administration had a larger effect in RV than LV LMS. Spontaneous, irregular contractions were observed after noradrenaline, adrenaline and dobutamine administration. In conclusion, RV LMS showed a stronger contraction with higher contraction velocity as compared to LV LMS and exhibited a greater response to dobutamine. These findings contribute to the understanding of the RV physiology as a separate entity, advocating for a different approach in treating RV or LV dysfunction. Graphical Abstract

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