Cellular basis for the acute inhibitory effects of IL-6 and TNF- alpha on excitation-contraction coupling

There is controversy over whether nitric oxide (NO) mediates acute negative inotropic actions of cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- alpha). The reports from established laboratories have appeared inconsistent, which could be due to species differences. Thus, we tried to elucidate the mechanisms underlying negative inotropic actions of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and TNF- alpha in the same model. We studied the effects of cytokines on [Ca(2+)](i)transients (using indo-1), cell shortening (CS) (using a video motion detector) and the L-type Ca(2+)channel current (I(Ca)) (using the whole cell perforated patch clamp technique) in isolated guinea-pig ventricular myocytes. IL-6 (1000 U/ml) or TNF- alpha (500 U/ml) decreased both peak systolic [Ca(2+)](i)(IL-6: 0.43+/-0.01 to 0.40+/-0.01, n=5, P<0.05; TNF- alpha : 0.42+/-0.02 to 0.39+/-0.02, n=5, P<0.05) and the amplitude of CS (IL-6: 7.5+/-0.9 to 6.2+/-0.5 micrometers, n=5, P<0.05; TNF- alpha : 6.7+/-0.7 to 5.8+/-0.7 micrometers, n=5, P<0.05) without detectable reductions in I(Ca)(IL-6: 0.9+/-0.1 to 0.9+/-0.1 nA, n=4, N.S.; TNF- alpha : 1.1+/-0.3 to 1.1+/-0.2 nA, n=4, N.S.) within 5 min. The nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, N(G)-monomethyl- L arginine (300 micromol/l), blocked the effects of IL-6 but not of TNF- alpha. When pretreated with 20 nmol/l isoproterenol, exposure to IL-6 decreased both I(Ca)(2.8+/-0.5 to 2. 0+/-0.3 nA) and the amplitude of CS (10.4+/-2.4 to 7.5+/-1.9 micrometer) within 5 min. TNF- alpha also clearly depressed I(Ca)(2.9+/-0.9 to 2.3+/-0.7 nA) and the amplitude of CS (7.0+/-1.4 to 5.5+/-1.3 micrometer) in beta -adrenergic stimulated cells. TNF- alpha significantly increased the content of sphingosine (product of sphingomyelin pathway) in isolated heart. The effects of low dose sphingosine (5 micromol/l) mimicked those of TNF- alpha on cardiac myocytes. IL-6 produced an acute negative inotropic effect through a NO-dependent pathway while TNF- alpha did so via a sphingomyelin-dependent pathway in isolated guinea-pig ventricular myocytes.