Disulfiram has been shown to decrease the incidence of arrhythmias in rabbits exposed to trichloroethylene. In this study 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 control rabbits, 120–180 s following intravenous administration of 4 mg/kg barium chloride. 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, however, significantly increased the arrhythmogenic dose 86% and the lethal dose 44% compared to control. In vitro studies demonstrated that disulfiram (1 × 10–4 and 3 × 10–4M) significantly depressed the myocardial contractility of rat ventricular strips compared to polyethylene glycol 400 controls.

Keywords:
Disulfiram, Ouabain, Cardiac arrhythmias, Quinidine, Cardiotoxicity, Barium chloride
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© 1983 S. Karger AG, Basel
1983
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