Modificaciones farmacológicas de las propiedades electrofisiológicas cardíacas. Estudio experimental y simulación con modelos matemáticos.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The effects of three drugs (flecainide, dofetilide and pinacidil) on ventricular electrophysiological properties were studied in both an experimental model of rabbit heart (perfused Langendorff preparation) and with mathematical simulation models (only for pinacidil). METHODS: in 11 experimental preparations, the effect of flecainide 1 µmol/L on longitudinal and transversal conduction velocity was tested using three different coupling intervals. In 17 preparations, the effect of 0.5 µmol/L dofetilide on conduction velocity and refractoriness was studied using four different cycle lengths, as well as the effects of dofetilide (1, 5 and 10 µmol/L) on ventricular fibrillatory patterns. The effects of 10 µmol/L pinacidil on ventricular refractoriness and on ventricular fibrillation induction in basal conditions and in acute myocardial ischemia were studied using 28 experimental preparations and mathematical models. RESULTS: flecainida decreased both longitudinal and transversal conduction velocity, showing a use-dependent effect only in the case of longitudinal conduction velocity. With short coupling intervals, the effect of flecainida was greater for transversal than for longitudinal conduction velocity. Dofetilide (0.5 µmol/L) caused an increase in ventricular refractoriness in a reverse-use-dependent manner, without affecting ventricular conduction times. Increasing drug concentration from 1 to 10 µmol/L caused a reduction on the complexity of ventricular fibrillation patterns specially on the right ventricle, suppressing the arrhythmia only in three cases. Pinacidil (10 µmol/L) caused a decrease in ventricular refractoriness in basal conditions but not in ischemic conditions, due to an increase of post-repolarization refractoriness in the latter, as suggested by simulation results. Pinacidil showed protection action against ventricular fibrillation in the fifth minute of acute regional ischemia in a concentration dependent manner, due (as suggested by simulation results) to the induction of bidirectional (and not unidirectional) conduction block as a consequence of a reduction in cellular excitability caused by the strong activation of the IK(ATP) current in the presence of an ischemic-depressed sodium current.