How nerve and heart cells interact to cause abnormal heart rhythms

Neurocardiac interaction in malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death

Professor G Andre Ng at the University of Leicester is studying how the nervous system is involved in triggering abnormal heart rhythms, called ventricular fibrillation, which can lead to sudden cardiac death (SCD). Heart disease can increase the risk of developing these abnormal heart rhythms, but currently we cannot prevent them happening, because we don’t fully understand the underlying mechanisms behind these arrhythmias. Professor Ng has discovered that as well as underlying heart muscle disease, the risk of sudden cardiac death is also influenced by the activity of nerves in the heart. In this project, Professor Ng will study how the nervous system interacts with heart cells to increase the chances of lethal rhythm disturbances occurring. He will combine organ, cell, clinical and computer modelling approaches to allow him to translate the findings from the laboratory to the clinic, and hopefully make a difference to patients. By better understanding how heart muscle cells and the nerve supply of the heart are disturbed in heart disease, and how they interact to cause lethal heart rhythm disturbances, the researchers hope to reveal new targets for therapies to prevent sudden cardiac death.