Combination of sotalol and quinidine in a canine model of torsades de pointes: no increase in the QT-related proarrhythmic action of sotalol

INTRODUCTION

Clinical treatment with a combination of Class IA and III antiarrhythmic drugs is not recommended, as they both favor bradycardia-dependent proarrhythmic events such as torsades de pointes (TdP). However, this theoretical additive effect on ventricular repolarization has never been demonstrated and could be questioned as other Class I drugs, such as mexiletine, a Class IB drug, limit the number of sotalol-induced TdP in dogs with AV block, suggesting the possibility of an antagonistic action of Class I properties against Class III effects.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We compared the electrophysiologic and proarrhythmic effects of sotalol (Class III) alone and combined with quinidine (Class IA) in a canine model of acquired long QT syndrome. Seven hypokalemic (K+: 3 +/- 0.1 mEq/L) dogs with chronic AV block had a demand pacemaker implanted and set at a rate of 25 beats/min. They were submitted to two (sotalol-alone and sotalol-plus-quinidine) experiments 48 hours apart using a randomized cross-over protocol. They were pretreated with quinidine (10 mg/kg + 1.8 mg/kg per hour) or saline infused throughout the experiment, and given sotalol (4.5 mg/kg + 1.5 mg/kg per hour) for 2 hours, 30 minutes after the beginning of the pretreatment infusion during both experiments. Ventricular and atrial cycle lengths were similarly increased by sotalol after quinidine or saline. The sotalol-induced prolongation of the QT interval was significantly shorter in quinidine-pretreated dogs (24 +/- 7 msec after quinidine vs 40 +/- 8 msec after saline). Fewer dogs developed TdP: significantly during the first hour of infusion (1/7 sotalol-plus-quinidine vs 6/7 sotalol-alone dogs, P < 0.05) but nonsignificantly during the second hour (3/7 vs 6/7).

CONCLUSION

In this model, the sotalol-plus-quinidine combination is at least no more arrhythmogenic than either of the drugs given alone.

Mexiletine antagonizes effects of sotalol on QT interval duration and its proarrhythmic effects in a canine model of torsade de pointes

OBJECTIVES

The arrhythmogenic and electrophysiologic properties of sotalol, a class III antiarrhythmic drug, administered alone and in combination with mexiletine, a class I antiarrhythmic drug, were compared in conscious dogs predisposed to torsade de pointes arrhythmias.

BACKGROUND

The utility of sotalol is limited by proarrhythmia related to excessive delays in repolarization. The addition of mexiletine may limit the risk of torsade de pointes because it reduced in vitro the sotalol-induced increase in action potential duration.

METHODS

Two studies were performed in eight hypokalemic dogs (plasma potassium level < or = 3.2 mmol/liter) with chronic atrioventricular block (mean ventricular cycle length, RR 1,100 ms) at 3-day intervals using a crossover protocol. Intravenous sotalol (4.5 + 1.5 mg/kg body weight per h) alone was given for 2 h, or, on another day, an intravenous mexiletine infusion (4.5 + 1.5 mg/kg per h) was begun 30 min before sotalol infusion. Spontaneous ventricular cycle length and QT interval and ventricular effective refractory period at the 1,000-ms pacing cycle length were measured at baseline and 30 min after the onset of each drug infusion. The electrocardiogram (ECG) was continuously monitored for torsade de pointes.

RESULTS

Sotalol plus mexiletine and sotalol alone had a significant (p < or = 0.05) and similar effect on ventricular cycle length (+ 800 +/- 93 vs. + 690 +/- 104 ms [mean +/- SEM]) and ventricular effective refractory period (+ 20 +/- 4 vs. + 25 +/- 4 ms), but sotalol plus mexiletine had a lesser effect on QT interval (+ 20 +/- 6 vs. + 50 +/- 8 ms, p < or = 0.05). Torsade de pointes is less frequent (one of eight dogs vs. six of eight dogs, p = 0.02) with sotalol plus mexiletine than with sotalol alone.

CONCLUSIONS

The coadministration of a class Ib agent can reduce the proarrhythmic potential of a class III drug in experimental animals predisposed to torsade de pointes arrhythmias and further suggests the clinical utility of such a strategy.

Proarrhythmic effects of a quinidine analog in dogs with chronic A-V block

The proarrhythmic effects of 3-hydroxy-hydroquinidine (3-OH-HQ) and quinidine were compared in a canine model of QT-dependent ventricular arrhythmias. Eight hypokalemic ([K+] < or = 3.2 mmol/l) dogs with AV block (around 45 bpm) were given either drug in a randomized order at 2-day intervals. Each drug was given as two 1 hour doses, with a bolus (low dose: 5 mg/kg or high dose: 10 mg/kg) plus infusion (25 or 50 micrograms/kg/min) protocol. Propranolol infusion was combined with a third hour of the high dose infusion. Electrophysiologic measurements were performed at baseline and 30 minutes after the beginning of each dose and propranolol infusion, and proarrhythmic events were recorded 30 minutes before and during the experiment. Neither drugs altered the ventricular cycle length. Quinidine and 3-OH-HQ prolonged the QT interval similarly and significantly when paced at 60 bpm after the low dose (+39 +/- 18 and +28 +/- 22 msec, respectively) and after the high dose (+51 +/- 29 and +50 +/- 22 msec). Quinidine was more arrhythmogenic than 3-OH-HQ: 7/8 dogs (p < or = 0.05) developed ventricular arrhythmias (isolated, repetitive ventricular beats, or polymorphic ventricular tachycardias) during quinidine infusion (low dose: 4 dogs) compared to 3/8 dogs (NS) during 3-OH-HQ infusion (low dose: 1 dog). Addition of propranolol-induced bradycardia (around 30 bpm) caused torsades de pointes (wave burst arrhythmias) or polymorphic ventricular tachycardias after both drugs (in 3 dogs after quinidine and in 2 dogs after 3-OH-HQ). Thus 3-OH-HQ was slightly less arrhythmogenic than quinidine in this model of torsades de pointes, but the addition of an extra favouring factor (bradycardia) reduced that difference.

Reproducibility of the model of induced ventricular tachycardia in conscious dogs with infarction

The canine model of ventricular tachycardias (VT) induced by programmed stimulation is used routinely in several laboratories to test antiarrhythmic drugs. The aim of the present study was to determine the rate of success and reproducibility of this model. We analyzed a group of 58 dogs that underwent a 2-hr occlusion and were submitted to programmed electrical stimulation at least 4 days after the surgery. Only 29 dogs (50%) were inducible and included in the study, as 22 dogs died following myocardial infarction, and seven dogs were never inducible. Out of 130 trials, 92 (70%) performed on inducible dogs were positive with 11% of nonsustained ventricular tachycardias, 63% of sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardias, and 26% of ventricular fibrillation. Inducibility decreased over time in a subgroup of 19 dogs that was submitted to four trials during the first month after the infarction (68% of inducible dogs versus 46% in trials 1 and 4, respectively). Ventricular effective refractory period decreased significantly from 146 +/- 7 msec at trial 1 to 114 +/- 6 msec at trial 4, and the severity of the induced ventricular tachycardias increased. This variability should be considered when planning studies on antiarrhythmic drugs in this model.