Antiarrhythmic Activity of Taurepar during Ischemic and Reperfusion Damage to Myocardium

Abstract

The antiarrhythmic effect of taurepar, an N-phenylalkyl derivative of taurine, was examined in experiments on rats subjected to acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion leading to arrhythmia development. During acute ischemia, taurepar (25 mg/kg) completely prevented early postocclusion arrhythmias including extrasystoles, ventricular tachycardia, and ventricular fibrillation. During postischemic reperfusion, taurepar (25 mg/kg) did not prevent extrasystoles and ventricular tachycardia, but precluded the development of ventricular fibrillation and the death of animals. The antiarrhythmic potency of taurepar surpassed that of lidocaine during acute myocardial ischemia and that of propranolol during ischemia/reperfusion injury. The results suggest that taurepar is a promising antiarrhythmic drug with high antifibrillation activity.

Taurine and Its Derivatives: Analysis of the Inhibitory Effect on Platelet Function and Their Antithrombotic Potential

“…Finally, taurine has the ability to induce structural "reverse-remodeling" following myocardial injury, reducing oxidative stress, apoptosis, myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis as a reparative process [27,[97][98][99][100][101][102]. Thereby, taurine contributes to the attenuation of the functional (electrical) remodeling and diastolic function impairment, leading to a reduced risk for arrhythmias onset [29][30][31][32]103], which would otherwise predispose to intracavitary thrombosis and further systemic embolism.…”

“…Taurine has been further proved to exert many pharmacologic actions, acting as a protective agent against pathologies including nervous diseases (retinal degeneration, stroke, neurodegenerative diseases-Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or Huntington's disease-epilepsy, fragile X syndrome, succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency), metabolic diseases (diabetes mellitus, stroke-like episodes -MELAS, mitochondrial disease), inflammatory diseases, sarcopenia, myotonic dystrophy, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy [9][10][11]. Moreover, taurine elicits protection against cardiovascular disease [5,9,[12][13][14], delaying the progression of atherosclerosis [15,16], reducing blood pressure [17][18][19][20], preventing the development and correcting cardiomyopathy [21][22][23][24][25][26], showing efficacy in ischemia-reperfusion injury [9,27], manifesting antiarrhythmic properties, preventing sudden death [28][29][30][31][32], and acting as a cardioprotective agent in congestive heart failure (CHF) [11,33]. As a matter of fact, taurine has been approved to be included in the treatment of CHF in Japan [9].…”