Proteomics reveals crosstalk between calcium disturbance and multiple stresses facilitating lethal ventricular arrhythmias-sudden cardiac death under the co-morbidity of acute myocardial ischemia and type II diabetes mellitus.

Aims: Diabetes mellitus (DM) often co-exists with myocardial ischemia (MI). Whether DM increases sudden cardiac death (SCD) susceptibility in early MI remains unclear, and the underlying mechanism needs to be further explored.

Materials And Methods: We induced type II DM in mice to produce a co-morbidity model of DM and MI. Proteomic analysis was conducted to identify proteomic features associated with DM-SCD and MI. Additionally, a neonatal rat ventricular myocyte (NRVM) model was established under conditions of hypoxia and high glucose (HG) to elucidate the interplay between oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in MI co-morbid with DM.

Key Findings: Our findings revealed that DM increased the incidence of lethal ventricular arrhythmia (LVA)-SCD in early MI. Proteomic data indicate that Ca-mediated oxidative stress and ER stress may synergistically contribute to the increased SCD incidence. SCD mice exhibited increased mitochondrial ROS (mROS) and cytosolic ROS (cytoROS), decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and reduced/oxidized glutathione ratio, upregulation of RyR2-S2814 phosphorylation, and increased expression of ER stress-related proteins in the ischemic myocardium. NRVMs subjected to hypoxia and HG showed cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca overload, excessive ROS production, and reduced intracellular K levels. Treatment with MitoTEMPO to scavenge mROS and 4-PBA to inhibit ER stress normalized SCD-associated alterations in mice and hypoxia- and HG-associated alterations in NRVMs, preventing LVA-SCD.

Significance: Our study uncovers that DM increases the incidence of LVA-SCD in early MI, which is associated with the crosstalk between calcium dysregulation and multiple stresses.