Cause of Death in Cardiac Arrest

Scientists have identified a protein, integrin β1D, the loss of which is found to have a link to sudden death by cardiac arrest.

 Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy

Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy or ARVC is a genetic disease that causes arrhythmias (a condition in which the heart beat is irregular). It is a rare condition that causes sudden death of the patient by heart attack. It mainly affects the right ventricle of the heart.

  Integrin β1D

The recent study showed that a protein called integrin β1D has links to the ARVC condition. Significant reduction of this protein was observed in ARVC patients. The same was not observed in other heart disease cases such as ischemic heart disease or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Low integrin β1D levels was found to affect calcium levels and also stability of another heart protein called RyR2.

  Role of Calcium in Heart Function

Calcium is an important component necessary for heart function- in the electrical activity and the pumping action. Electrical signals are stimulated by the entry of calcium ions into the cardiac muscle cells. Its entry and exit from the muscle cells also contribute to the contraction and relaxation of the muscles.