Robert C. Wesley

Mechanism of atropine-resistant atrioventricular block during inferior myocardial infarction: Possible role of adenosine

Mechanisms responsible for atrioventricular (AV) block during acute inferior myocardial infarction are only partially understood. Increased parasympathetic tone is the factor usually postulated; however, persistence of AV block after atropine administration is frequently observed. Adenosine, an endogenous ischemic metabolite, has well established depressant effects on AV node conduction. In this report, an episode of atropine-resistant AV block was reversed by aminophylline, a competitive adenosine antagonist, in a patient with an acute inferior myocardial infarction. This observation suggests a role for adenosine in the mediation of ischemia-induced AV node block.

Antiadrenergic effects of adenosine on His-Purkinje automaticity. Evidence for accentuated antagonism.

The effects of adenosine on the human His-Purkinje system (HPS) were studied in nine patients with complete atrioventricular (AV) block. Adenosine had minimal effect on the control HPS cycle length, but in the presence of isoproterenol increased it from 906 +/- 183 to 1,449 +/- 350 ms, P less than 0.001. Aminophylline, a competitive adenosine antagonist, completely abolished this antiadrenergic effect of adenosine. In isolated guinea pig hearts with surgically induced AV block, isoproterenol decreased the HPS rate by 36%, whereas in the presence of 1,3-dipropyl-8-phenyl-xanthine, a potent adenosine antagonist, the HPS rate decreased by 48% and was associated with an increased release of adenosine. Therefore, by blocking the effects of adenosine at the receptor level, the physiologic negative feedback mechanism by which adenosine antagonizes the effects of catecholamines was uncoupled. The results of this study indicate that adenosines effects on the human HPS are primarily antiadrenergic and are thus consistent with the concept of accentuated antagonism. These effects of adenosine may serve as a counterregulatory metabolic response that improves the O2 supply-demand ratio perturbed by enhanced sympathetic tone. Some catecholamine-mediated ventricular arrhythmias that occur during ischemia or enhanced adrenergic stress may be due to an imbalance in this negative feedback system.

Electrophysiologic effects of dipyridamole on atrioventricular nodal conduction and supraventricular tachycardia. Role of endogenous adenosine.

Exogenous adenosine has been shown to have potent electrophysiologic effects and antiarrhythmic properties within the atrioventricular (AV) node. Endogenous adenosine, a nucleoside with an increased release signaled by ischemia and hypoxia, is not believed to exert significant effects during homeostatic conditions. Recent experimental evidence suggests, however, that under normoxic conditions, the amount of adenosine released may be sufficient to mediate some of its physiologic effects. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that in humans the electrophysiologic effects of endogenously released adenosine on AV nodal conduction can be demonstrated under normoxic conditions by inhibiting uptake and degradation of the nucleoside. In the first protocol, the effects of intravenous dipyridamole (0.56 mg/kg bolus i.v., 5 micrograms/kg/minute infusion), a nucleoside-transport blocker that elevates endogenous plasma levels of adenosine, on AV nodal conduction were evaluated in seven patients. At a constant atrial paced cycle length, dipyridamole increased the AH interval from 110 +/- 19 to 164 +/- 26 msec, p = 0.002 (+/- SEM). Aminophylline (5.6 mg/kg i.v.), a competitive antagonist of adenosine, completely reversed the effects of dipyridamole on AV nodal conduction. Similarly, dipyridamole increased the cycle length at which pacing-induced AV nodal Wenckebach occurred, from 348 +/- 31 (control) to 388 +/- 33 msec (dipyridamole) (p = 0.002). In a second protocol, the effects of intravenous dipyridamole were evaluated in another group of six patients who had supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) in which the AV node was part of the reentrant circuit.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Role of endogenous adenosine in postdefibrillation bradyarrhythmia and hemodynamic depression.

In halothane-nitrous oxide-anesthetized pigs, the effect of the competitive adenosine antagonist, BW-A1433U (a derivative of 1,3-dipropyl-8-phenylxanthine), on postdefibrillation bradyarrhythmia and hemodynamic depression was investigated. In protocol 1, repetitive episodes of ventricular fibrillation lasting 15 seconds before transthoracic DC shock were performed in five animals, before (control) and after the administration of BW-A1433U (5 mg/kg i.v.). An unsuccessful initial shock was immediately followed by a rescue shock of 40 A. In ventricular fibrillation episodes requiring rescue shocks, nine of 19 episodes (47%) exhibited second- or third-degree atrioventricular block at 15 seconds postdefibrillation compared with only one of 16 BW-A1433U episodes (6%). In protocol 2, the effect of BW-A1433U was determined in the presence of dipyridamole, a nucleoside uptake blocker known to potentiate the cardiac actions of adenosine. To counter the hypotensive effect of dipyridamole, methoxamine was continuously infused at 0.015 mg/kg/min i.v. Sequential episodes of ventricular fibrillation lasting 45 seconds were terminated by shocks of 40 A in the presence of methoxamine alone, after dipyridamole (1.5-7.5 mg i.v.), and after BW-A1433U (5 mg/kg i.v.). Over the first 15 seconds postdefibrillation, BW-A1433U significantly (p less than 0.05) increased the number of spontaneous beats (31 +/- 2) and systolic/diastolic blood pressure (111 +/- 4/67 +/- 5 mm Hg; mean +/- SEM; n = 9) compared with both methoxamine (16 +/- 2 beats; 98 +/- 14/52 +/- 12 mm Hg; n = 5) and dipyridamole (8 +/- 3 beats; 58 +/- 11/27 +/- 6 mm Hg; n = 9), respectively. Rapid infusion of BW-A1433U during dipyridamole postdefibrillation periods raised heart rate and blood pressure to preventricular fibrillation levels within 30 seconds. Thus, BW-A1433U can reverse and prevent postdefibrillation bradyarrhythmia and hemodynamic depression. Endogenous adenosine may be an important mediator of postdefibrillation cardiovascular collapse.