Removal of free oxygen radicals, generated during reperfusion of an ischemic organ by scavengers protects the tissue from reperfusion injury. The calcium channel blocker verapamil is an effective cytoprotective agent, preventing against reperfusion injury. The effects of verapamil were investigated previously using hepatic, renal or cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury models. We investigated th...

The lung, myocardial and systemic kinetics of the enantiomers of verapamil, and their myocardial effects, were measured after administration of 10 mg of racemic verapamil during 2 min to chronically instrumented sheep; the data were used to develop a physiological model of the process. Verapamil was characterized by relatively slow transit through the lungs and heart. The lung kinetic values we...

High-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry and fluorescence-depolarization techniques were used to study how the presence of daunomycin and/or verapamil affect the thermotropic behaviour of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicles. Daunomycin, a potent anti-cancer agent, perturbs the thermodynamic parameters associated with the lipid phase transition: it decreases the enthalpy ch...

The effects of fendiline on L-type Ca++ currents [ICa(L)] were investigated in rat ventricular cardiomyocytes using the patch-clamp technique both in the whole-cell disrupted-patch and in the cell-attached configuration. For comparison, the effects of verapamil were also investigated. Both compounds depressed the magnitude of whole cell ICa(L), verapamil being about 15 times more potent than fe...

INTRODUCTION Mercury intoxication is a widespread problem as mercury is used in the manufacture of thermometers, batteries and electrical switches. It forms one of the most diffusible environmental pollutants. Mercury has a nephrotoxic effect which could occur at low exposure levels. Verapamil could help in the treatment of mercuric toxicity. The aim of the study was to examine the protective a...

The effects of verapamil and related phenylalkylamines on neuronal excitability were investigated in isolated neurons of rat intracardiac ganglia using whole-cell perforated patch-clamp recording. Verapamil (>/=10 microM) inhibits tonic firing observed in response to depolarizing current pulses at 22 degrees C. The inhibition of discharge activity is not due to block of voltage-dependent Ca2+ c...

EDTA or verapamil was infused into the renal artery of the anesthetized dog, and the effects on renin release and renal function were examined in an attempt to elucidate the role and action site of calcium ion in the renin secretory system. Both EDTA (25 mg/min) and verapamil (50 micrograms/min) increased RSR and RBF with a concomitant increase of urine flow, although there was no change in sys...

Verapamil is a newly marketed antiarrhythmic drug. It has a significant presystemic elimination when administered orally and, therefore, intravenous therapy is often recommended. Optimum therapeutic effect is obtained when verapamil plasma concentrations are between 100 and 400 ng/ml. Several chromatographic procedures for the determination of verapamil in biological fluids have been described ...

The treatment of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) in infancy with digitalis, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and verapamil is reported. Treatment was successful in about 90% of the patients treated with ATP and verapamil and in 61--71% of the patients treated with digitalis (Lanatoside C). Verapamil terminated the tachycardia within 2 minutes of administration in most instances and A...

The potential efficacy of the calcium channel blocker verapamil in modifying ischemic brain injury was evaluated in anesthetized rats subjected to 60 or 90 min of diffuse forebrain ischemia produced by bilateral occlusion of the carotid and vertebral arteries. Treated animals received verapamil, 2 mg/kg intravenously, prior to ischemia. Four hours of postischemic recirculation was permitted by ...