Regulation of sodium channel gene expression by class I antiarrhythmic drugs and n - 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes

摘要

Previous studies have shown that chronic administration of class I antiarrhythmic drugs, which have definite inhibitory action on the fast Na~+ channel, result in up-regulation of cardiac Na~+ channel expression, and suggest that this effect may contribute to their deleterious effects during chronic administration. Recent studies have shown that the antiarrhythmic effects of free n 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are associated with an inhibition of the Na~+ channel. Whether the PUFA when used chronically will mimic the effect of the class I drugs on the expression of the Na~+ channel is not known.