Cardiac sympathoexcitation in heart failure

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is a serious debilitating condition with poor survival rates and an increasing level of prevalence. The excessive sympatho-excitation that is a hallmark of heart failure has long-term effects that contribute to disease progression. The mechanisms causing the increase in renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) have been extensively investigated in experimental models of heart failure, but there is less information on the factors causing the increase in cardiac SNA (CSNA). This review focuses on our recent investigations of the mechanisms driving the increased CSNA in an ovine rapid ventricular pacing model of HF. In conscious sheep with mild heart failure (ejection fraction..