1The effects of Class I antiarrhythmic drugs on the maximum rate of depolarization (Vmax) of guinea-pig ventricular action potentials were studied by standard microelectrode techniques. 2 The ability of seven different drugs to depress V'max in unstimulated tissue ('resting block') was found to correlate poorly with the lipophilicity (log P) of the compounds and only a little better with their molecular weights. 3 Depression of Vmax in stimulated tissue was studied for 11 drugs and found, in all cases, to increase with stimulation frequency ('rate-dependent block'). 4 The rapidity of onset of rate-dependent block (at approximately equipotent concentrations) varied markedly between drugs. It correlated well with molecular weight (r= 0.83; P< 0.01).
5The time constant of recovery from rate-dependent block (Tre) also correlated very well with molecular weight (r= 0.94; P< 0.001) for the seven drugs thus studied. 6 A simplified model for the interaction of Class I drugs with the fast sodium channel is proposed in which the drugs all act as 'inactivation enhancers' (as suggested by other workers) but in which their molecular weight plays a central role in determining the kinetics of this interaction.