Research progress in myocardial function and diseases related to muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (Review).

Abstract

Muscarinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors (also known as M receptors) are widely distributed in all organs and tissues of the body, mainly playing a role in cholinergic nerve conduction. There are five known subtypes of muscarinic ACh receptors, but their pharmacological mechanisms of action on myocardial function have remained to be clearly defined. Functional myocardial diseases and myocardial injuries, such as arrhythmia, myocardial ischemia, myocarditis and myocardial fibrosis, may be affected by muscarinic ACh receptors. This article reviews the research progress of the regulation of myocardial function by muscarinic ACh receptors and related diseases, with the aim of developing better strategies and providing references for further revealing and clarifying the signal transduction and mechanisms of muscarinic ACh receptors in cardiomyocytes, and finding potential myocardial protective drugs that act on muscarinic ACh receptors.