B. Dul et B. Gajkowska, THE INFLUENCE OF ETHANOL AND THE CALCIUM-CHANNEL ANTAGONIST, NIFEDIPINE ON MYOCARDIAL ULTRASTRUCTURE IN THE RAT, Experimental and toxicologic pathology, 50(1), 1998, pp. 27-30
In this study we investigated the ultrastructural changes in rat myoca
rdium induced by the concomitant treatment of animals with ethanol and
the calcium channel antagonist, nifedipine. The animals were given pe
rorally either placebo or 8 g/kg body weight ethanol in combination wi
th 3 mg/kg nifedipine for 30 days. In contrast to known effects of eth
anol on myocardial ultrastructure, the animals treated with ethanol an
d nifedipine did not have cardiomyocyte damage. The most common ultras
tructural alteration was increased numbers of mitochondria. In a previ
ous paper we reported that another calcium channel antagonist, verapam
il, worsened the toxic effects of ethanol on rat myocardium. Therefore
, our data could be potentially significant in the selection of a calc
ium antagonist for patients with increased alcohol consumption.