title: The interval-force relationship: a technique for evaluating the cardiac toxicity of anthracycline analogs.
abstract: The most serious side effect of the anthracycline derivatives is dose-related cardiac toxicity induced during repeated administration. An in vitro method is described which assesses the interval-force relationship in evaluating the contractility of the rat and rabbit heart. Repeated administration of Adriamycin resulted in a progressive decrease in contractility which correlated closely with the cumulative dose administered. This model offers a reliable method to evaluate the effect of new anthracycline analogs on the heart and to study the potential of other drugs or agents to protect against cardiac toxicity.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D010477:Perfusion / Q000379:methods; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D004317:Doxorubicin