BACKGROUND In the present study, the electropharmacological activity of traditional Chinese medicine, Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE), on human hyperpolarization-activated nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels and the underlying "funny" currents was investigated. METHODS Standard two-electrode voltage-clamp recordings were employed to examine the properties of cloned HCN subunit currents expressed in Xenopus oocytes under controlled conditions and GBE administration. RESULTS We found that GBE irreversibly inhibited the HCN2 and HCN4 channel currents in a concentration-dependent fashion and that the HCN4 current was more sensitive to GBE compared with HCN2. In addition, GBE inhibition of the current amplitudes of HCN2 and HCN4 currents was accompanied by a decrease in the activation and deactivation kinetics. CONCLUSION The results of this study contribute toward illustrating the antiarrhythmic mechanism of GBE, which might be useful for the treatment of arrhythmia.

中文翻译：

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银杏叶提取物对 HCN 基因编码的起搏器通道的影响。

背景 在本研究中，研究了中药银杏叶提取物 (GBE) 对人体超极化激活核苷酸门控 (HCN) 通道的电药理活性和潜在的“滑稽”电流。方法 使用标准的两电极电压钳记录来检查在受控条件和 GBE 管理下在爪蟾卵母细胞中表达的克隆 HCN 亚基电流的特性。结果我们发现GBE以浓度依赖性方式不可逆地抑制HCN2和HCN4通道电流，并且与HCN2相比，HCN4电流对GBE更敏感。此外，GBE 对 HCN2 和 HCN4 电流幅度的抑制伴随着激活和失活动力学的降低。