Abstract
DHA-Ascorbic acid (DHA-As), a new derivative of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was tested for its possible antiarrhythmic effects on coronary artery ligation/reperfusion arrhythmias in rat hearts, and adrenaline-induced arrhythmias in canine hearts. DHA-As (3 mg/kg i.v.) did not change the total duration of VT, and tended to suppress the incidence of VT, VF and mortality of reperfusion in rat hearts. The heart rate, QT90 and systolic blood pressure did not change, and the diastolic blood pressure was decreased by DHA-As in the rat hearts. DHA-As significantly decreased the arrhythmic ratio only at two time points (14 and 15 min after injection), and also decreased the heart rate and mean blood pressure in canine hearts. In conclusion, DHA-As tended to suppress the reperfusion-induced arrhythmias in rat hearts. However, the change was not statistically significant. In addition, DHA-As has a weak suppressing effect on adrenaline-induced arrhythmia.
