title: Effects of etomidate on the cardiac papillary muscle of normal hamsters and those with cardiomyopathy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Etomidate has been shown to induce no significant inotropic effect on normal myocardium, but its effects on diseased myocardium remain unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  The effects of etomidate (1 and 5 micrograms/ml) on the intrinsic contractility of left ventricular papillary muscle from normal hamsters and those with cardiomyopathy (strain BIO 82.62, 6 months old) were investigated in vitro (Krebs-Henseleit solution, 29 degrees C, pH 7.40, Ca++ 2.5 mM, stimulation frequency 3/min).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The contractility of papillary muscles from hamsters with cardiomyopathy was less than that of controls, as shown by the decrease in maximum shortening velocity (-25%, P < .001), isometric active force (-45%, P < .01), peak power output (-57%, P < .01), and sarcoplasmic reticulum function (P < .01). Etomidate did not induce a significant inotropic effect, as shown by the absence of changes in maximum shortening velocity and active isometric force, except at 5 micrograms/ml in cardiomyopathic hamsters (+8 +/- 10%, P < .05). The effects of etomidate on these inotropic parameters were not different in normal and cardiomyopathic hamsters. Etomidate impaired contraction-relaxation coupling under low load in both groups, suggesting that etomidate decreased sarcoplasmic function. This impairment was less (P < .02) pronounced in cardiomyopathic muscles. The effects of etomidate on contraction-relaxation coupling under heavy load were not different between groups. In both groups, etomidate had no effect on the peak power output and the curvature of the total force-velocity curve, suggesting that it did not modify the muscle myothermal economy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Etomidate had only a slight effect on the intrinsic mechanical properties of hamster cardiac papillary muscles, and these effects did not depend on the pathophysiologic state of the myocardium. These results may be clinically useful as, unlike etomidate, most anesthetics depress myocardial contractility.
authors.affiliation: Département d'Anesthésie-Réanimation, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpétrière, Paris, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Riou
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lecarpentier
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Viars
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D005045:Etomidate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010210:Papillary Muscles / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D005045:Etomidate