Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate whether chronic (3 or 10 months) administration, via the dinking water, of lead (25 ppm) and/or ethanol (25% v/v) altered the susceptibility of the heart to arrhythmias induced either by coronary artery occlusion or noradrenaline infusion in pentobarbitone-anaesthetised male Sprague-Dawley rats. The cardiac effects of acute intravenous infusions of ethanol (17, 33 and 66 mg kg−1 min−1) were also measured. Chronic exposure to ethanol and/or lead in the drinking water had no marked effect on the severity of arrhythmias occurring within the initial 30 min of coronary artery occlusion. In control rats and in those administered ethanol and/or lead for 10 months, noradrenaline (16 μg kg−1 min−1 given IV 1 h post-occlusion for a 15-min period) induced a similar number of ectopic beats during the infusion period, although these arrhythmias persisted beyond the infusion period in treated animals only. There was a significant accummulation of lead in the bone but not in the blood of lead-treated rats. Blood ethanol concentrations varied considerably between animals, ranging from 0 to 319 mg%. Ethanol (66 mg kg−1 min−1) given acutely and yielding a blood concentration of 174 mg % had a slight antiarrhythmic effect in this model.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alderman EL, Coltart DJ (1982) Alcohol and the heart. Br Med Bull 38: 77–80
Beevers DG, Cruikshank JK, Yeoman WB, Carter GF, Goldberg A, Moore MR (1980) Blood lead and cadmium in human hypertension. J Environ Pathol Toxicol 4: 251–260
Carmichael NG, Winder C, Lewis PD (1981) Dose response relationship during perinatal lead administration in the rat: A model for the study of lead effects on brain development. Toxicology 21: 117–128
Clark C, Foreman MI, Kane KA, McDonald FM, Parratt JR (1980) Coronary artery ligation in anaesthetised rats as a method for the production of experimental dysrhythmias and for the determination of infarct size. J Pharmacol Methods 3: 357–368
Crawford MD, Crawford T (1969) Lead content of bones in a hard and a soft water area. Lancet i: 699–701
Ettinger PO, Wu CF, De Lacruz C, Weisse AB, Ahmed SS, Regan JJ (1978) Arrhythmias and the ‘Holiday Heart’: alcohol-associated cardiac rhythm disorders. Am Heart J 95: 555–562
Falk JL, Samson HH, Winger GL (1972) Behavioural maintenance of high concentrations of blood ethanol and physical dependence in the rat. Science 177: 811–813
Gilmour RF, Ruffy R, Lovelace DE, Mueller TM, Zipes DP (1981) Effect of ethanol on electrogram changes and regional myocardial ischaemia. Cardiovasc Res 15: 47–58
Grant LD, Kimmel CA, West GL, Martinez-Vargas CM, Howard JL (1980) Chronic low level lead toxicity in the rat. II. Effects on postnatal physical and behavioural development. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 56: 42–58
Harris N, Kane KA, Muir AW, Winslow E (1982) Development of a severe model of early coronary artery ligation induced dysrhythmias in the anaesthetised rat. Br J Pharmacol 73: 951–959
Hejtmancik M JR, Williams BJ (1979) Time and level of perinatal lead exposure for development of norepinephrine cardiotoxicity. Res Commun Pathol Pharmacol 24: 367–376
Hennekens CH, Willett W, Rosner B, Cole DS, Mayrent SL (1979) Effects of beer, wine and liquor in coronary deaths. JAMA 242: 1973–1974
Kopp SJ, Perry MH, Glonek T, Erlanger M, Perry EF, Barany M, D'Argosa LS (1980) Cardiac physiologic-metabolic changes after chronic low-level heavy metal feeding. Am J Physiol 239: H22-H30
Kostis JB, Horstmann E, Goodkind J (1973) Antiarrhythmic properties of alcohol. Circulation 47 & 48 Suppl 4: 131
Kulkosky PJ (1980) Blood ethanol and free-choice ethanol intake in rats and their progeny. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 13: 449–452
Liljequist S, Ahlenius S, Engel J (1977) The effect of chronic ethanol treatment on behaviour and central monoamines in the rat. Nauyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 300: 205–216
Maines JE, Aldinger EE (1967) Myocardial depression accompanying chronic consumption of alcohol. Am Heart J 73: 55–63
Marshall RJ, Muir AW, Winslow E (1981) Development of a severe model of early coronary artery ligation induced dysrhythmias in the anaesthetised rat. Br J Pharmacol 73: 951–959
Moore MR (1973) Plumbsolvency of waters. Nature 243: 222–223
Paradise RR, Stoelting V (1965) Conversion of acetyl strophanthidin-induced ventricular tachycardia to sinus rhythm by ethyl alcohol. Arch Int Pharmacodyn Ther 157: 321–331
Shaper AG, Pocock SJ, Walker M, Wale CJ, Clayton B, Delves HT, Hinks L (1982) Effects of alcohol and smoking on blood lead in middle-aged British men. Br Med J 284: 299–302
Williams BJ, Griffith III WH, Albrecht CM, Pirch JH, Hejtmancik M JR (1977) Effects of chronic lead treatment on some cardiovascular responses to norepinephrine in the rat. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 40: 407–413
Wittmer LE, Alich A, Aufderheide AC (1981) Lead in bone. 1 Direct analysis for lead in milligram quantities of bone ash by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy. Am J Clin Pathol 75: 80–85
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Evis, M.J., Kane, K.A., Moore, M.R. et al. The effects of ethanol and lead, alone and in combination, on the severity of arrhythmias induced by coronary artery occlusion, and by noradrenaline, in anaesthetised rats. Arch Toxicol 59, 56–60 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00263959
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00263959