A comparative study of the fluoroquinolone antibacterial agents on the action potential duration in guinea pig ventricular myocardia

We examined the effects of ten fluoroquinolone antibacterial agents, levofl oxacin, sitafloxacin, trovafloxacin, ciprofloxacin, gemifloxacin, tosufloxa cin, gatifloxacin, grepafloxacin, moxifloxacin and sparfloxacin, on action potentials recorded from guinea pig ventricular myocardia. Sparfloxacin pro longed action potential duration (APD) by about 8% at 10 muM and 41% at 100 muM. Gatifloxacin, grepafloxacin and moxifloxacin also prolonged APD at 10 0 muM by about 13%, 24% and 25%, respectively. In contrast, levofloxacin, s itafloxacin, trovafloxacin, ciprofloxacin, gemifloxacin and tosufloxacin ha d little or no APD-prolonging effect at concentrations as high as 100 muM. These findings suggest that there are differences in potency to prolong QT interval among the fluoroquinolones.