title: Antiarrhythmic effect of disulfiram in various cardiotoxic models.
abstract: Disulfiram has been shown to decrease the incidence of arrhythmias in rabbits exposed to trichloroethylene. In this study additional cardiotoxic models were used to evaluate disulfiram's antiarrhythmogenicity. Disulfiram (7.5 mg/kg, i.v.) significantly decreased the time spent in arrhythmia compared to control rabbits, 120-180 s following intravenous administration of 4 mg/kg barium chloride. This was very similar to the effect of quinidine sulfate (10 mg/kg, i.v.) used as a positive control. In ouabain-induced arrhythmias, disulfiram treatment (400 mg/kg, i.p.) did not significantly alter the arrhythmogenic or lethal doses of a ouabain infusion. Quinidine, however, significantly increased the arrhythmogenic dose 86% and the lethal dose 44% compared to control. In vitro studies demonstrated that disulfiram (1 X 10(-4) and 3 X 10(-4) M) significantly depressed the myocardial contractility of rat ventricular strips compared to polyethylene glycol 400 controls.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004221:Disulfiram / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D010042:Ouabain / Q000494:pharmacology; D011802:Quinidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D010042:Ouabain; D011802:Quinidine; D004221:Disulfiram