Antiarrhythmic Effect of Disulfiram in Various Cardiotoxic Models

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Abstract
Disulfiram decreases the incidence of arrhythmias in rabbits exposed to trichloroethylene. 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 that in control rabbits, 120-180 s following 4 mg/kg BaCl2 i.v. 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 significantly increased the arrhythmogenic dose, by 86%, and the lethal dose by 44%, compared to control. In vitro disulfiram (1 .times. 10-4 and 3 .times. 10-4 M) significantly depressed the myocardial contractility of rat ventricular strips compared to polyethyleneglycol 400 controls.