Pharmacology Of Antiarrhythmic Drugs Research Articles

Atrial fibrillation – a comparative review of one of the most common arrhythmias in dogs and humans

Atrial fibrillation is the most prevalent arrythmia in dogs and humans and is characterised by chaotic depolarisation of the atria, resulting in damage to the atrial myocardium. It can lead to heart failure or worsen an existing condition and cause sudden death. Electrocardiographically, atrial fibrillation is characterised by the absence of P waves and an irregularly irregular rhythm, with narrow QRS complexes. Treatment of atrial fibrillation requires knowledge of pathophysiology and the pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drugs. In contrast to human medicine, the treatment of dogs revolves mainly around rate control strategies, although new studies propose the consideration of several rhythm strategies. Considering the complexity of atrial fibrillation, there is strong need for a consensus on classification, diagnosis and treatment in dogs.

Enhancing Team‐based Learning of Pharmacology Using Technology‐assisted Prerequisite Content Preparation

Multiple modalities are encouraged for creating and enhancing active learning in pharmacology pedagogy in pharmacy and medical schools. Team‐based learning engages students in a detailed pedagogy that begins with pre‐class self‐directed preparation, leading up to an in‐class individual Readiness Assurance Test (iRAT), which can be set by the program to mandate a certain level of competency by individual students. Typically, the iRAT is subsequently administered to the entire team as a team Readiness Assurance Test (tRAT). Based on the iRAT performance, a short lecture is delivered, emphasizing possible areas of class deficiency identified by the iRAT. Finally, students are asked to work in teams on application exercises. Although TBL is very effective in encouraging active participation in and out of class, team dynamics and other factors may lead to grade inflation when team scores mask and enhance the performance of borderline students. The California Northstate University College of Pharmacy employs a hybrid‐TBL approach to engage learners in an active learning environment, with multiple didactic courses in the first, second and third professional years (P1, P2, P3) of the Doctor of Pharmacy program. To enhance TBL delivery in our pharmacology courses, we prepared a series of video lectures using online technology to help students prepare for their iRATs and tRATs. These short “Info‐Blast” video lectures were typically 30–40 minutes in length, posted to YouTube, and emphasized the salient learning objectives, goals, terminology, and concepts included in prerequisite content required for upcoming pharmacology course lectures. Lectures included Pharmacogenomics, Biotechnology and An Introduction to Viruses in the Cell and Molecular Biology course (P1), and the pathophysiology of arrhythmia, the pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drugs, dyslipidemia, and dyslipidemia drugs in the Pathophysiology and Pharmacology II, Cardiovascular Sciences course (P2). The YouTube videos were accompanied by documents detailing self‐directed Learning Objectives and a Practice Question Workbook, all of which were posted at least two weeks ahead of the class. Students provided comments and suggestions verbally and via email which were strongly positive. Student iRAT scores and exam performance scores were captured using TurningPoint and ExamSoft and showed a positive correlation with the number of hours spent watching the video lectures. Among the advantages mentioned by students was the ease of access, the ability to repeat the lecture and detailed clarity added to expectations regarding outcomes and performance. One disadvantage mentioned was the extra time needed to prepare using the enhanced content, which we hope to address by using online technology such as InsertLearning to incorporate textual sources with the posted video lectures.Support or Funding InformationThe work was supported by the California Northstate University College of PharmacyThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

A mathematical model to understand the mechanisms of action of class 1 antiarrhythmic drugs

A mathematical model to understand the mechanisms of action of class 1 antiarrhythmic drugs

Classification and pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drugs

Despite the emergence of several forms of nonpharmacologic therapy for cardiac arrhythmias, antiarrhythmic drugs continue to play an important role in the management of patients with this common clinical problem. The key to the proper use of antiarrhythmic drugs is a thorough knowledge of their mode of action and pharmacology. The pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drugs is particularly important because patients with cardiac arrhythmias frequently have multiorgan disease, which may influence the metabolism and elimination of antiarrhythmic drugs. The accumulation of toxic amounts of these agents can lead to dire effects including, but not limited to, ventricular proarrhythmia and malignant bradycardia. The goals of pharmacologic therapy of cardiac arrhythmia are to provide the maximum benefit in terms of arrhythmia suppression while maintaining patient safety. To accomplish these goals, a knowledge of the pharmacology of several antiarrhythmic drugs is mandatory. (Am Heart J 2000;140:12-20.)

Clinical Pharmacology of Antiarrhythmic Drugs

The clinical use of the presently available antiarrhythmic agents is rendered difficult by narrow therapeutic ranges, highly variable drug elimination kinetics, and complex dose-concentration-effect relations. Because of their electrophysiological mechanisms of action, these drugs may produce proarrhythmic effects, conduction disturbances, and myocardial depression even at the assumed optimum therapeutic serum levels. Several antiarrhythmic drugs, such as procainamide, quinidine, propafenone, encainide, and amiodarone, are transformed to pharmacologically active metabolites, which may contribute to their antiarrhythmic and toxic effects. In addition to marked genetic differences in hepatic metabolism rates (polymorphic hydroxylation and acetylation), some drugs, e.g., quinidine, propafenone, and amiodarone, produce an inhibition of hepatic metabolizing enzymes and thus cause practically relevant drug interactions. A careful dosage adaptation in individual patients is therefore required to achieve maximum therapeutic benefit and to reduce the risk of unwanted side effects. Serum drug concentration measurements may contribute to an improved use of antiarrhythmic agents, but monitoring alone does not replace the electrophysiological assessment of therapeutic efficacy.

Pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drugs: Interaction with channels or membrane phospholipids?: Ursula Ravens, Department of Pharmacology, University of Essen, D-4300 Essen, West Germany

Pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drugs: Interaction with channels or membrane phospholipids?: Ursula Ravens, Department of Pharmacology, University of Essen, D-4300 Essen, West Germany

Physiology and pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drugs.

Optimal treatment of cardiac arrhythmias calls into play an understanding of the electrophysiologic effects of the various drugs in use and of the origin of the individual patient's arrhythmia With...

Pharmacology of Antiarrhythmic Drugs

Pharmacology of Antiarrhythmic Drugs

Electrical Activity of the Heart.

The number of books appearing each year which represents a series of lectures given at a medical conference on a given subject suggests that there is a reasonably large market for this type of monograph. Such conferences fall into two groups: a postgraduate course-type of conference, presenting a series of lectures by experts (presumably aimed at large audiences), and technical conferences in which investigators report on their recent research and where a smaller number of workers in a given field are brought together for a "work-conference." The monograph edited by Manning and Ahuja has some features of both types of conferences. It covers some rather esoteric aspects of cardiac electrophysiology such as cellular activity, and computer analysis, as well as clinically applicable sections dealing with arrhythmias, pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drugs, and selected aspects of clinical electrocardiography. Among the participants of the conference are several authors who have written books and