Effects of omecamtiv mecarbil and mavacamten in isolated human atrium

Heart failure is a syndrome that can result from impaired heart muscle contractions like in dilative cardiomyopathy but also from hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCOM). A pharmacological therapy might lie in Ca(2+)-sensitizing or Ca(2+)-desensitizing drugs, respectively. Such drugs are thought to be omecamtiv mecarbil (OME) and mavacamten (MYK-461), respectively. Their function in contracting human muscle is not fully understood and was the focus of the present study. OME from 1 nM to 10 µM cumulatively applied failed to raise force of contraction in human right atrial preparations strips (HAP) or mouse left atrial preparations (LA). However, OME prolonged time to peak tension and time of relaxation in HAP and LA but did not alter the beating rate in right atrial preparations from mice (RA). In contrast, MYK-461 (10 nM to 10 µM) reduced concentration- and time-dependently force of contraction in HAP and LA. MYK-461 (10 µM) did not affect the beating rate in RA. In summary, the present data failed to detect an increase in force of contraction for OME, in human and mouse atrium. In contrast, a Ca(2+) desensitizer studied for comparison was able to reduce force of contraction in HAP and LA. We conclude that putative beneficial effects of OME in dilated cardiomyopathy cannot be explained by positive inotropic effects in the HAP, whereas beneficial functional effects of MYK-461 in HOCOM can be explained by negative inotropic effects in HAP. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00210-022-02333-0.