It is unknown whether salicylate enhances the action of antiarrhythmic agents on human Na + channels with state dependency and tissue specificity. We therefore investigated effects of salicylate on quinidine-induced block of human cardiac and skeletal muscle Na + channels. Human cardiac wild-type (hH1), LQT3-related mutant (ΔKPQ), and skeletal muscle (hSkM1) Na + channel α subunits were expressed in COS7 cells. Effects of salicylate on quinidine-induced tonic and usedependent block of Na + channel currents were examined by the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Salicylate enhanced the quinidine-induced tonic and use-dependent block of both hH1 and hSkM1 currents at a holding potential (HP) of −100 mV but not at −140 mV. Salicylate decreased the IC 50 value for the quinidine-induced tonic block of hH1 at an HP of −100 mV, and produced a negative shift in the steady-state inactivation curve of hH1 in the presence of quinidine. According to the modulated receptor theory, it is probable that salicylate decreases the dissociation constant for quinidine binding to inactivated-state channels. Furthermore, salicylate significantly enhanced the quinidine-induced tonic and use-dependent block of the peak and steady-state ΔKPQ channel currents. The results suggest that salicylate enhances quinidine-induced block of Na + channels via increasing the affinity of quinidine to inactivated state channels.Acetylsalicylic acid, the most widely studied antiplatelet drug, suppresses platelet aggregation by inhibiting cyclo-oxygenase. Salicylic acid (C 6 H 4 (OH)COOH) belongs to the group of aromatic monocarboxylic acids, which by themselves do not have an anesthetic action. However, monocarboxylic acids such as salicylic, benzoic, acetic, propionic and butyric acid have been reported to enhance the action of local anesthetics (7, 13). In particular, monocarboxylic acids containing a lipophilic moiety such as an aliphatic hydrocarbon chain or aromatic ring can enhance the action of local anesthetics in nerves; indeed, salicylate has been reported to enhance the blocking action of procainamide on sodium (Na + ) channels in nerves (7). And Katsuki et al. (13) demonstrated that salicylate decreased the intracellular pH, which resulted in an increase of the proportion of charged molecules of procaine and the enhancement of its local anesthetic action on nerves.As for the effect of salicylate on cardiac myocytes, Tanaka et al. (23) reported that it enhanced the action of Na + channel blockers with higher liposolubility by increasing their affinity for inactivated state channels. Since Na + channels in individual