CARDIOMYOCYTES IN CULTURE - A MODEL TO STUDY THE CELLULAR ACTIONS OF AMIODARONE

The extensive use of amiodarone as an anti-arrhythmic drug is hampered by numerous side effects and by insufficient knowledge of its cellula r action. The use of cell cultures for studying the mechanism of amiod arone action has been questioned, since available information has indi cated that the doses employed for the experiments induce cell damage. We have defined conditions to obtain the amiodarone effect on cardiac cells in culture with no detectable damage. Amiodarone, 1 mu g/ml, a c oncentration comparable to serum levels of the drug in acute and chron ically treated humans and rats, reduces cell contractions, modifies me mbrane electrical properties accordingly, increases ATP content, but d oes not alter cell substructure or change enzyme activities. We strong ly support the use of cell cultures for studying the cellular action(s ) of amiodarone and offer conditions suitable for such experiments.