The Need for Speed: Mice, Men, and Myocardial Kinetic Reserve.

Abstract

Kinetic reserve, i.e. the ability of the myocardial muscle to accelerate contraction and relaxation upon an increase in heart rate is a critically important aspect of human cardiac health, and is negatively impacted in cardiac pathologies. The in-bred laboratory mouse exhibits minimal kinetic reserve, limiting extrapolation of this particular aspect of this model to human relevance. Use of human tissue research, in parallel with animal experiments, is critically needed to advance our understanding of kinetic reserve, and needed to evaluate potential treatment strategies.