Experimental Atrial Fibrillation

Background Drug therapy to maintain sinus rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is limited by adverse effects and inadequate efficacy. There has been an increased interest in the use of class III drugs to treat AF, and several new agents have been developed, but there is little information available about mechanisms of class III drug action in AF. The present study was designed to compare the effects of two class III agents, d-sotalol and ambasilide, in dog models of experimental AF. Methods and Results A previously developed dog model of sustained vagotonic AF was used to assess the ability of equal loading doses of d-sotalol and ambasilide (2 mg/kg, followed by maintenance infusions), to terminate AF and prevent its induction. At this dose, ambasilide terminated AF in 12 of 12 dogs and prevented AF induction in 10 of 12 dogs; d-sotalol terminated AF in 1 of 8 dogs (P=.001 versus ambasilide) and prevented AF induction in none of 8 dogs (P=.002). An additional dose of d-sotalol (cumulative load, 8 mg/kg) terminated AF in 7 of 8 dogs and prevented induction in 5 of 8 dogs. In an additional 6 dogs with sterile pericarditis and inducible AF, ambasilide prevented AF induction in all 6. An equal dose of d-sotalol (2 mg/kg) failed to suppress AF induction in any dog, but 8 mg/kg of d-sotalol suppressed AF induction in all.