Cardiac implications of amlodipine-dantrolene combinations.
OBJECTIVE
Cardiac disorders, cardiac arrest and ventricular fibrillation in the most severe cases, have been observed after the administration of dantrolene to patients treated by verapamil for coronary artery disease. This study was designed to examine the interaction of dantrolene with amlodipine, a dihydropyridine.


METHODS
In 12 anaesthetized, open-chest pigs, the effects of the interaction have been studied on heart rate, atrioventricular conduction, monophasic action potential duration, intraventricular conduction time, left ventricular dP/dt max and mean blood pressure. The study was performed with normal coronary circulation and ischaemia of a large area of the left ventricule, obtained by complete occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery near its origin, under pacing at a constant high rate, 180 beats.min-1. The drugs were injected iv, amlodipine 0.4 mg.kg-1 first and dantrolene 3.0 mg.kg-1 20 min later in six animals and the order was reversed in the other animals.


RESULTS
Sinus rate and atrioventricular conduction were not affected by amlodipine, but were slowed by dantrolene added (145 +/- 9 to 131 +/- 7 beats.min-1, P < 0.01 and 150 +/- 15 to 180 +/- 20 msec, P < 0.01). In contrast, amlodipine or amlodipine plus dantrolene did not change MAP duration or conduction time in the normal heart. Similarly, they did not alter the maximal variations due to ischaemia, but delayed them, while prolonging the time to onset of fibrillation (111 +/- 8 to 343 +/- 33 sec. P < 0.001 with amlodipine alone, 289 +/- 11 to 323 +/- 16 sec, P < 0.05 with dantrolene). Left ventricular dP/dt max was lowered from 1670 +/- 86 to 1532 +/- 50 mmHg.sec-1 (P < 0.001) and mean blood pressure from 79 +/- 4 to 70 +/- 3 mmHg (P < 0.01) by amlodipine, but dantrolene did not enhance and even counteracted these effects. Finally, potassium plasma concentration did not increase above 5.1 +/- 0.2 mmol.L-1 under the dual influence of amlodipine and dantrolene.


CONCLUSIONS
In usual clinical doses, dantrolene may be safely administered concurrently with amlodipine.
Freysz
M
M
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, General Hospital, Dijon.
Timour
Q
Q
Bernaud
C
C
Bertrix
L
L
Faucon
G
G
D017311:Amlodipine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D000818:Animals; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D003620:Dantrolene / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D011188:Potassium / Q000097:blood; D013552:Swine
D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D017311:Amlodipine; D003620:Dantrolene; D011188:Potassium