{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T15:19:00Z","timestamp":1783523940395,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782950400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["MPs"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Small animal models are essential for atrial fibrillation (AF) research. Researchers in AF use an electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiography and invasive electrophysiology study (EPS) to assess atrial structural and electrical remodeling. In relatively smaller cardiac structures and rapid heart rates, the examination can be challenging without special tools designed for animal study. Moreover, conventional invasive EPSs often cause significant trauma, alter autonomic tone, and limit longitudinal evaluations. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of repurposing hospital-grade medical devices for the non-invasive, multi-modality assessment of atrial myopathy in a rat model of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: A total of 12 male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent the multi-modality assessment. Structural remodeling was evaluated using hospital-grade echocardiography (8\u201312 MHz) to measure left atrial (LA) dimensions and volume. Surface ECG was used to determine P-wave duration. Electrical remodeling and AF inducibility were assessed using transesophageal pacing (TEP)-based EPS, evaluating the atrial effective refractory period (AERP), sinus node recovery time (SNRT), and response to rapid atrial burst pacing. Results: The protocols showed high procedural safety (survival rate 91.67%) and successfully characterized atrial myopathy. Surface ECG showed marked intra-atrial conduction delay with prolonged P-wave duration in the MetS group (30.17 \u00b1 4.62 vs. 22.33 \u00b1 1.86 ms, p &lt; 0.05). Echocardiography revealed signs of structural remodeling in the MetS group, evidenced by marked prolonged Isovolumic Relaxation Time (IVRT: 35.602 \u00b1 3.043 vs. 19.187 \u00b1 3.631 ms; p &lt; 0.001) and increased Left Atrial Area (0.223 \u00b1 0.0556 vs. 0.134 \u00b1 0.033; p = 0.007). Furthermore, TEP-based EPS quantified electrical remodeling. The MetS group had shorter AERP (73.33 \u00b1 10.33 ms vs. 120.00 \u00b1 34.06 ms; p = 0.010) and Corrected SNRT (100.67 \u00b1 53.98 ms) versus controls (208.33 \u00b1 76.97 ms; p = 0.018). The MetS group exhibited a higher absolute AF inducibility rate (50%, three out of six rats) compared to the SH group (33.3%, two out of six rats). Conclusions: The integration of surface ECG, echocardiography, and TEP-based EPS provides a safe, highly reproducible, and comprehensive method for evaluating both structural and electrical components of atrial myopathy in small animal models, allowing for robust longitudinal studies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mps9040103","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T15:52:24Z","timestamp":1783007544000},"page":"103","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Standardized Protocol for Comprehensive, Non-Invasive Phenotyping of Atrial Myopathy in Sprague-Dawley Rat Models of Metabolic Syndrome Using Clinical-Grade Echocardiography and Electrophysiology Systems"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9104-5022","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ardian","family":"Rizal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral Program in Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"},{"name":"Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang 65111, East Java, Indonesia"},{"name":"Cardiovascular Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammad Saifur","family":"Rohman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral Program in Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"},{"name":"Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang 65111, East Java, Indonesia"},{"name":"Cardiovascular Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6241-9665","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fatchiyah","family":"Fatchiyah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral Program in Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"},{"name":"Research Centre of Smart Molecule of Natural Resource, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hidayat","family":"Sujuti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral Program in Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"},{"name":"Departement of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang 65111, East Java, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna Fuji","family":"Rahimah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang 65111, East Java, Indonesia"},{"name":"Cardiovascular Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wella","family":"Karolina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang 65111, East Java, Indonesia"},{"name":"Cardiovascular Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Victor Alvianoes Guterez","family":"Hose","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiovascular Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mokhammad","family":"Afifudin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang 65111, East Java, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2022, December 27). 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