Piperazine protects the rat heart against sudden cardiac death from barium chloride-induced ventricular fibrillation

Barium Chloride-Induced Cardiac Arrhythmia Mouse Model Exerts an Experimental Arrhythmia for Pharmacological Investigations

AIM

Cardiac arrhythmias are among the most important pathologies that cause sudden death. The exploration of new therapeutic options against arrhythmias with low undesirable effects is of paramount importance.

METHODS

However, the convenient and typical animal model for screening the potential lead compound becomes a very critical modality, particularly in anti-arrhythmia. In this study, mice were intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with BaCl2, CaCl2, and adrenaline to induce arrhythmia, and simultaneously compared with BaCl2-induced rats.

RESULTS

Electrocardiogram (ECG) showed that the majority of mice repeatedly developed ventricular bigeminy, ventricular tachycardia (VT), and ventricular fibrillation (VF) after BaCl2-injection as seen in rats. The ECG of mice developed ventricular bigeminy and VT after CaCl2 and AT after adrenaline i.p. injection. Additionally, acute cardiac arrhythmia after BaCl2 i.p. injection could be reverted by drugs (lidocaine and amiodarone) administration. Additionally, the different routes of administration for various chemical-induced arrhythmia in both mice and rats were also retrieved from PubMed and summarized. Comparing this approach with previous studies after the literature review reveals that arrhythmia of BaCl2-induced i.p. mice is compatible with the induction of other routes.

CONCLUSIONS

This study brings an alternative experimental model to investigate antiarrhythmic theories and provides a promising approach to discovering new interventions for acute arrhythmias.

Protective effects of dietary selenium and vitamin C in barium-induced cardiotoxicity

Several metals including barium (Ba) known as environmental pollutants provoke deleterious effects on human health. The present work pertains to the potential ability of selenium (Se) and/or vitamin C, used as nutritional supplements, to alleviate the toxic effects induced by barium chloride (BaCl₂) in the heart of adult rats. Animals were randomly divided into seven groups of six each: group 1, serving as negative controls, received distilled water; group 2 received in their drinking water BaCl₂ (67 ppm); group 3 received both Ba and Se (sodium selenite 0.5 mg kg^-1 of diet); group 4 received both Ba and vitamin C (200 mg kg^-1 bodyweight) via force feeding; group 5 received Ba, Se, and vitamin C; and groups 6 and 7, serving as positive controls, received either Se or vitamin C for 21 days. The exposure of rats to BaCl₂ caused cardiotoxicity as monitored by an increase in malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and advanced oxidation protein product levels, a decrease in Na⁺-K⁺ adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), Mg²⁺ ATPase, and acetylcholinesterase activities and in antioxidant defense system (catalase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione, and nonprotein thiols). Plasma lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase activities, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels increased, while high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level decreased. Coadministration of Se and/or vitamin C restored the parameters indicated above to near control values. The histopathological findings confirmed the biochemical results. Se and vitamin C may be a promising therapeutic strategy for Ba-induced heart injury.

Impact of subchronic administration of piperazine citrate on the electrocardiogram of the rat

The effect of piperazine citrate on the electrocardiogram of the rat after treatment with piperazine citrate at 30, 60, and 100 mg/kg body weight for 16 weeks was investigated. The results were compared with a control group. There was prolongation of P-R, Q-Tc, and J-T intervals, whereas the QRS interval remained virtually unchanged. The heart rate, on the other hand, decreased in the groups that received piperazine citrate. The average heart rate in the control group was 334 ± 17.20 beats/min. In the group of rats that received the three doses of piperazine, the average heart rate at the end of a 15-minute observation period was 308 ± 3.74 beats/min, 302 ± 16.55 beats/min, and 312 ± 13.93 beats/min, respectively, and none of the values was statistically significant compared with the control. The P-R interval showed statistically significant increases in the groups treated with the three doses of piperazine over the control group. In both the 30- and 60-mg/kg groups, the average P-R interval was 92.0 ± 0.5, which was statistically significant when compared with the control average of 80.0 ± 0.00 (P = 0.0427). For the 100-mg/kg group, the average P-R interval was 96.0 ± 0.4 ms. The difference between this value and the control average was equally statistically significant (P = 0.0043). Both the Q-Tc and J-T intervals also showed statistically significant increases in the piperazine-treated groups and the P values compared with the control group were very similar. Even at the very high dose of 100 mg/kg given two times daily for 16 weeks, piperazine citrate appeared quite safe to the rat heart because it did not provoke any cardiac dysrhythmic phenomenon on the surface electrocardiogram.