Fig. 1

Positive inotropic effect of C18:1AC on contractility of human vEHT (left panel) and aEHT (right panel). a Human vEHT (0.5 Hz; 0.8 mM calcium, n = 4/1 per group) and b aEHT (3.6 Hz, 1.4–1.5 mM calcium; n = 8/1 per group, 2 independent experiments) exposed to increasing concentrations of C18:1AC for 20 min each under electrical stimulation (mean ± SEM, two-way ANOVA plus Bonferroni’s post-test for multiple comparisons, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs. vehicle control). Force normalised to baseline and corresponding vehicle controls (dotted line). Average contraction peaks of c vEHT (paced at 0.5 Hz) and d aEHT (3.6 Hz) after incubation with 25 µM C18:1AC for 20 min (mean ± SEM). Force normalised to corresponding vehicle control for e vEHT and f aEHT before and 24 h after washing out C18:1AC. Numbers for EHT experiments refer to total number of EHTs/number of batches