Abstract:
Aim :To study the effects of berberine(Ber) on the rapidly activating component(
I Kr ),the slowly activating component(
I Ks) of the delayed rectifier potassium current and the inward rectifier potassium current(
I K1) in cardiomyopathic guinea pig ventricular myocytes.
Methods :After guinea pigs were ip L-thyroxine 0.5 mg/kg for 10 d,their hearts were cardiomyopathic.Then whole cell patch-clamp recording technique was used to observe the effect of 30 μmol/L Ber on the
I Kr ,
I Ks and
I K1in cardiomyopathic guinea pig ventricular myocytes.
Results :In cardiomyopathic guinea pig ventricular myocytes,Ber 30 μmol/L markedly inhibited
I Kr and
I Ks by 22.8% and 29.5% at +10 mV and +80 mV,respectively.The effect of Ber on
I Ks was greater than that on
I Kr .Ber 30 μmol/L also inhibited the inward component of
I K1 by 29.1% at+120 mV,but the reverse potential of
I K1was unaffected.Ber(1- 300 μmol/L) was shown to inhibit
I Kr and
I Ks in a concentration-dependent manner.Their IC
50 were 76.74 μmol/L and 55.37 μmol/L,respectively.
Conclusion :Ber inhibited
I Kr ,
I Ks and
I K1in cardiomyopathic guinea pig ventricular myocytes,which may be important in understanding the antiarrhythmic effects of this drug.