Effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde on the heart

Metabolic Control of the Circulation

“…Renal blood flow also increases during acetate infusion; this is attributable either to the increase in cardiac output or to renal vasodilation, as was shown previously in isolated perfused kidneys (5). Pretreatment Neither the heart rate nor myocardial contractility is affected by administration of acetate into a coronary artery in dogs (40). Moreover, acetate does not exert an inotropic effect in the isolated perfused rat heart (32,41).…”

Ethanol, acetaldehyde, and myocardial protein synthesis

“…concentration was maintained at 0.8 mm (3.5 mg/100). Although earlier studies using higher levels of acetaldehyde have been reported in in vitro perfusions (4,6,7), this concentration was selected for the present study since it regularly produced increased amplitude and work to a level which has been previously shown to effect increased protein synthesis in hearts subjected to loading (8,9). In view of the rapid evaporation and loss of acetaldehyde from the perfusate reservoir at room temperature, the lysine-"C amino acid perfusate was initially prepared and oxygenated, chilled to 20C, and acetaldehyde was then added in proper concentration.…”

“…The suggestion has also been made that the detrimental effects of ethanol may actually be an acetaldehyde effect, mediated through the release of norepinephrine causing chronic chronotropic and inotropic effects which may often play a role in the development of the myopathy (4).…”

Chronotropic responses to ethanol of mouse atrial and ventricular myocardial cells in culture.

“…Although it is difficult to deduce a chronotropic response for the whole heart, which comprises connective tissue as well as muscle cells, from the results of this study, it is not surprising that many isolated heart preparations showed negative chronotropic responses (JAMES and BEAR, 1967;NAKANO and PRANCAN, 1972;KOBAYASHI et al, 1979;IKEDA et al, 1984), considering the fact that the beat rate of the whole heart is led by the beating rhythm of the atrium which contains a pacemaker. Meanwhile, it is probable that the whole heart shows an apparent positive chronotropic response under some conditions, because the atrial cells were slightly accelerated by the addition of 12.5 mM ethanol (Fig.…”

“…The accelerated heart contractions were interpreted as a response mediated by the activation of the sympathetic nerves or by catecholamine released from the myocardium Received for publication August 29, 1984 due to acetaldehyde, a metabolite of ethanol, since the acceleration was induced by acetaldehyde and blocked by the concomitant administration of reserpine or propranolol with acetaldehyde (KUMAR and SHETH, 1962;JAMES and BEAR, 1967;GAILIS and VERDY, 1971;NAKANO and PRANCAN, 1972;KOBAYASHI et al, 1979;MoHAN et al, 1981).…”