Cytotoxic effects of changrolin, lidocaine and amiodarone on cultured rat beating heart cells

The effects of changrolin (CRL), lidocaine, amiodarone on cultured rat beating heart cells were observed. In CRL 100μg/ml， the myocytes almost stopped beating, the configuration and fine structures of heart cells were destroyed and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was higher than the control (p<0.0l). No changes in configuration of myocytes and SGOT release were noticed but cytotoxic particles and vacules in cytoplasma were demonstrated during CRL 50μg/ml. There was no cytotoxic effect including morphological examination and AST release on cultured heart cells in case CRL concentration was 25μg/ml. The cytotoxic effect of CRL was nearly 10 times higher than lidocaine, but 4 times lower than amiodarone. These results indicate that the CRL dosage generally used for anti-arrhythmia caused no harm to myocytes.