PMID: 2508044May 1, 1989Paper

Pharmacologic analysis of the role of catecholamines in the mechanism of alcoholic affection of the heart

Patologicheskaia fiziologiia i èksperimental'naia terapiia
V P NuzhnyiA K Abdrashitov

Abstract

The authors studied the effect of 6-oxidopamine and rausedyl on the manifestation of cardiac disorders in rats given 3-5 g/kg ethanol by way of the stomach at 12-hour intervals for 5.5 days. 6-oxidopamine was injected intraperitoneally in a dose of 50 mg/kg 24 hours before the beginning of alcoholization and one hour after the first administration of ethanol. Rausedyl was given in a dose of 0.5 mg/kg by the intragastric route once a day during alcoholization. It was established in perfusion of an isolated rat heart that ethanol induces decrease of cardiac rhythm and rate of relaxation of the heart and coronary duct, increase of systolic and diastolic pressure in the left ventricle, and escape of creatine phosphokinase from the heart. 6-oxidopamine fails to influence while rausedyl weakens the effect of ethanol on heart contractility. Both compounds reduce the escape of creatine phosphokinase from the heart approximately by 40%. It is concluded that the destructive effect of ethanol on the cardiomyocytes is mediated partly by catecholamines. The authors suggest that the cardiotoxic effect of catecholamines in alcoholic intoxication is realized not fully because ethanol weakens their negative action on the heart.

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