Ventricular Arrhythmias Related to Antibiotic Usage in Dogs

Abstract

In dogs, pretreatment with the macrolide antibiotic tylosin (5 milligrams per day per kilogram of body weight) increased the incidence of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation during acute myocardial ischemia. Another group received a dose of acetyl strophanthidin which was nontoxic in controls, but which resulted in a ventricular arrhythmia in six of seven animals on antibiotic treatment. Enhancement of loss of potassium ion from the myocardium by the antibiotic was presumed to be related to the altered cardiac rhythm.

Cardiomyocytes Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: An In-Vitro Model to Predict Cardiac Effects of Drugs

“…The cardiac safety of azithromycin has been under question for many years and this compound was recently shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular death [72]. Similarly, the veterinary antibiotic tylosin increases ventricular arrhythmic risk in dogs [73]. None of the quinolone antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, clinafloxacin, enoxacin, enrofloxacin, fleroxacin, gatifloxacin, levofloxacin, lomefloxacin, nadifloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, rufloxacin, sarafloxacin, sparfloxacin) affect beating at 1 µM.…”

Antimicrobial chemotherapy in the dog

“…Although the occurrence of cardio-vascular depression in animals, during antimicrobial therapy, does not appear to have been widely accepted (Adams, 1975a), a number of antibiotics, including chloramphenicol, tetracyclines and aminoglycosides, have been shown to reduce the contractile force of the perfused canine heart, in vitro (Swain, Kiplinger & Brody, 1956) or to depress cardiac function (Cohen et al, 1970). Also dogs on tylosin, at a rate of 5 mg/kg body weight per day, manifest an increased incidence of ventricular arrhythmias during acute myocardial ischaemia, whether strophanthidin was being given concurrently or not (Regan et al, 1969); it was postulated that the arrhythmias were due to loss of myocardial potassium ion. Furthermore, cardiovascular depression has been observed in dogs, cats and monkeys anaesthetized while on aminoglycoside therapy (Adams, 1975b), the adverse effect possibly being due to interference with calcium metabolism and/or vasodilation lowering peripheral vascular resistance (Wolf & Wigton,197 1).…”