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The role of combination therapy with mexiletine and procainamide in patients with inducible sustained ventricular tachycardia refractory to intravenous procainamide.

This study evaluated the role of serial electropharmacological testing on combination therapy with mexiletine and procainamide in 20 patients with inducible sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) refractory to intravenous procainamide. The clinical arrhythmias were cardiac arrest in five patients, sustained VT in 11 patients, and recurrent syncope of presumably arrhythmic origin in four patients. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 0.40 +/- 0.12 (mean +/- SD). All patients had inducible sustained VT at baseline and after administration of intravenous procainamide. All 20 patients underwent electropharmacological testing on combination therapy with mexiletine and procainamide. The mean cycle length of inducible sustained VT was 251 +/- 48 ms at baseline, 324 +/- 81 ms on intravenous procainamide (P less than 0.014 vs baseline), and 365 +/- 82 ms on combination therapy (P less than 0.0001 vs baseline, P = NS vs intravenous procainamide). Combination therapy did not suppress VT inducibility, nor did it make VT more difficult to induce in 19 of 20 patients. The remaining one patient had a partial response (runs of nonsustained VT, longest 10 seconds). Furthermore, combination therapy did not significantly prolong the VT cycle length over and above that observed during testing with intravenous procainamide. Therefore, in patients with inducible sustained VT refractory to procainamide during initial electropharmacological testing, mexiletine in combination with procainamide appears to be of little or no value and serial electropharmacological testing on these drugs is of limited usefulness. Early initiation of alternative therapy may be the preferred clinical option.

Adult

[Verification of therapeutic levels of procainamide and N-acetyl- procainamide in ventricular arrhythmia].

Therapeutical efficacy was clinically evaluated in 21 patients with ventricular cardiac arrhythmias. The drug was given orally with preceded intramuscular dose. Therapeutic effect was verified by the measurements of procainamide and N-acetylprocainamide concentrations in blood serum to determine the minimal effective concentration of the drug required to obtain satisfactory antiarrhythmic effect. Procainamide proved effective in cardiac arrhythmias in 14 patients (66.7%) with statistical significance in the acute myocardial infarctions; blood serum procainamide plus N-acetylprocainamide levels being were below the therapeutical range. The poor correlation of the dose of the drug and respective procainamide, N-acetylprocainamide concentrations in blood was observed. Relationship of the therapeutical effects blood serum level of the drug should be estimated basing of the assays of both procainamide and N-acetylprocainamide .

Acecainide

Analysis for procainamide and N-acetyl procainamide in plasma or serum by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A high-performance liquid chromatography method is presented for simultaneous analysis for procainamide and N-acetyl procainamide in plasma or serum. The procedure involves internal-standard addition, organic extraction, and separation on a reverse-phase column. The detection limit for procainamide is 0.1 mg/liter and the calibration plot is linear to at least 30 mg/liter. Comparison with a colorimetric assay for procainamide gave a correlation coefficient of 0.989. We checked for interference by a large series of appropriate drugs, and found none, nor did icteric or lipemic sera present problems.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid

Procainamide-induced lupus erythematosus-like syndrome in relation to acetylator phenotype and plasma levels of procainamide.

To investigate the relationship between acetylator phenotype and the development of procainamide (PA)-induced systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE-like syndrome, 28 patients with chronic ventricular arrhythmias treated with PA were followed for one year. The therapy was guided by plasma monitoring in all patients in order to obtain the proposed therapeutic plasma level of PA. Nine patients (30%), both slow and rapid acetylators, developed the SLE-like syndrome within one year. PA plasma levels were similar in both slow and rapid acetylators and there was no difference in total dose or duration of therapy before development of the syndrome. Thus, the acetylator phenotype is probably of no or minor predictive importance when PA therapy is guided by plasma monitoring. On the other hand, the antinuclear antibodies appeared significantly more rapidly in patients developing the syndrome and could possible be used as an indicator of the risk. The results support the hypothesis that the primary amino group structure of PA may be of importance in the induction of the SLE-like syndrome.

Acecainide

Uptake of the noncytotoxic transport probe procainamide in the Chinese hamster ovary model of multidrug resistance.

Many of the cytotoxic substrates of the multidrug transporter are organic cations. Cimetidine, procainamide, and tetraethylammonium bromide were used in a Chinese hamster ovary model of multidrug resistance, to study handling of noncytotoxic cationic transport probes. Cimetidine and procainamide, but not tetraethylammonium, accumulated to a greater extent (5-fold) in the sensitive CHOAUXB1 (AB) cell line than in the resistant CHRC5 (C5) cell line. Accumulation of both cimetidine and procainamide was significantly increased by verapamil in C5 but not AB. Procainamide accumulation in both AB and C5 was temperature dependent and occurred by passive diffusion. Diltiazem, nifedipine, rifampin, tamoxifen, rhodamine, and ethidium also increased procainamide accumulation in C5 but not AB. Azide in glucose-free medium increased procainamide accumulation in C5, and this was reversed when glucose, but not 3-O-methylglucose, was added. Procainamide efflux rates were similar in AB and C5 and not affected by verapamil or azide. The initial rate of procainamide uptake was higher in AB than in C5, and both verapamil and azide increased the initial rate of procainamide uptake in C5. Thus, differences in accumulation of the noncytotoxic transport probe procainamide in the colchicine-sensitive and colchicine-resistant components of the Chinese hamster ovary cell line mimic the accumulation of known cytotoxic substrates for the multidrug transporter, such as colchicine, vinblastine, and doxorubicin. The differential accumulation of procainamide is due to differences in rates of drug influx, rather than efflux. Since procainamide influx is passive and decreased accumulation in the resistant line appears to parallel M(r) 170,000 glycoprotein presence and activity, we would speculate that decreased procainamide accumulation may be due to an indirect effect of the M(r) 170,000 glycoprotein, such as its effect on intracellular pH.

Animals

Irreversibility of procainamide-dextrose complex in plasma in vitro.

The extent to which the procainamide-dextrose complex reverts to free procainamide hydrochloride in plasma was studied in vitro. The procainamide-dextrose species was formed, isolated using preparative liquid chromatography, and then added to six different lots of pooled plasma that were maintained at physiological temperature (37 +/- 0.1 degrees C). At zero, four, and eight hours after preparation of the samples, 1-mL portions were removed from each sample, extracted, and assayed for procainamide hydrochloride using high-performance liquid chromatography. The mean procainamide hydrochloride concentrations at zero, four, and eight hours after preparation were 2.67, 4.81, and 1.38 g/mL, respectively. Each lot of pooled plasma was statistically analyzed to determine if a significant amount of procainamide hydrochloride reappeared. Analysis of variance showed significant difference between the concentrations of free procainamide hydrochloride in the samples at zero, four, and eight hours (p less than 0.02). Follow-up with Duncan's multiple comparisons test determined that the mean procainamide hydrochloride concentrations immediately after preparation were not significantly different from those at eight hours, but the mean procainamide hydrochloride concentrations at four hours were significantly different from those at eight hours (p less than 0.01). A paired Student's t test comparing the data from zero and eight hours showed a significant reduction in mean procainamide hydrochloride concentrations with time (p less than 0.05). The procainamide-dextrose complex in vitro does not revert to free procainamide hydrochloride in plasma at physiological temperature during the first eight hours.

Drug Compounding

Promotion of ventricular tachycardia induction by procainamide in dogs with inducible ventricular fibrillation late after myocardial infarction.

UNLABELLED: The influence of procainamide on inducible ventricular tachyarrhythmias was evaluated in 35 dogs with experimental myocardial infarction, and 9 normal dogs. Programmed stimulation was performed from the right ventricular apex via a percutaneously positioned electrode catheter, using up to five extrastimuli before and after intravenous administration of procainamide (15 mg/kg). Procainamide levels in postinfarct dogs were 8.5 +/- 0.7 micrograms/mL (range 5.3-13.6 micrograms/mL). Procainamide exerted its greatest effect in postinfarct dogs with reproducible baseline ventricular fibrillation. Six of nine dogs (P less than 0.05) with ventricular fibrillation had sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (cycle length: 147 +/- 4 msec) induced after procainamide administration. This ventricular tachycardia required significantly more extrastimuli than baseline ventricular fibrillation (3 +/- 0.3 extrastimuli before vs 4 +/- 0.3 extrastimuli after procainamide). Procainamide never converted ventricular fibrillation to ventricular tachycardia in normal dogs. Procainamide had minimal effect on inducible ventricular tachycardia after myocardial infarction. Ventricular tachycardia induction was abolished in only 2 of 17 dogs despite significant prolongation of electrophysiological parameters. Ventricular tachycardia cycle length, and the number of extrastimuli required were unchanged by procainamide in this subgroup. CONCLUSION: Ventricular tachycardia is insensitive to the antiarrhythmic properties of procainamide in this model. In contrast, procainamide is able to convert postinfarction ventricular fibrillation to ventricular tachycardia, presumably by promoting sustained, organized reentry. This previously undescribed action is an unusual form of proarrhythmic effect, and suggests that this drug should be used cautiously in patients after myocardial infarction.

Animals

Procainamide inhibits sympathetic nerve activity in rabbits.

Procainamide has been used extensively for the treatment of ventricular arrhythmias. It is widely held that the sympathetic nervous system plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ventricular arrhythmias. We investigated the possibility that procainamide has effects on the sympathetic nervous system by determining the responses to procainamide of postganglionic renal and preganglionic lumbar nerve activity in rabbits with sinoaortic and vagal denervation. Bolus administration of procainamide (3, 7, and 15 mg/kg) resulted in dose-dependent decreases in renal sympathetic nerve activity (26%, 38%, and 57%, respectively). These boluses resulted in plasma levels of procainamide of 13.3, 23.6, and 41.7 micrograms/ml, respectively. The same doses of procainamide resulted in decreases in lumbar nerve activity of 36%, 36%, and 41%, respectively. In a separate group of rabbits pretreated with hexamethonium (n = 8), 15 mg/kg procainamide reduced lumbar nerve traffic by 38%. Infusion of procainamide at 1 mg/kg/min over 20 minutes (n = 9) resulted in a decrease in renal sympathetic nerve activity of 20% with a plasma level of 11 micrograms/ml. Sham-treated rabbits (n = 8) exhibited an 18% increase in traffic over a comparable period of time. We conclude that procainamide inhibits lumbar and renal sympathetic nerve activity through effects on the brain or spinal cord. The influence of procainamide on sympathetic nerve activity may contribute importantly to its efficacy in the therapy of ventricular arrhythmias.

Animals

Elimination of procainamide in end stage renal failure.

To investigate the effect of end stage renal insufficiency and hemodialysis on the serum half-life of procainamide, 500 mg of procainamide was given orally to control subjects and dialysis patients on interdialysis days. Procainamide was assayed by spectrophotometry and spectrophotofluorometry. Mean half-life in normal subjects was 3.2 hr by spectrophotometry and 3.5 hr by spectrophotofluorometry. Mean half-life in patients was 11.3 hr by spectrophotometry and 16.0 hr by spectrophotofluorometry (p less than 0.001 compared to control subjects). Half-life of procainamide during dialysis in patients given 500 mg of procainamide 1 hr before dialysis was 4.3 hr and 9.6 hr on a nondialysis day (p less than 0.001). Both methods of assay gave higher levels of procainamide when the metabolite, N-acetylprocainamide, was present in serum and the extract allowed to stand in 1 N HCl, but spectrophotometry was less affected. Thus, end stage renal insufficiency greatly prolongs the half-life of procainamide, procainamide is readily dialyzable, and N-acetylprocainamide is hydrolyzed in 1 N HCl to procainamide during routine serum determinations.

Acetylation

Hemodialysis for severe procainamide toxicity: clinical and pharmacokinetic observations.

A 67-yr-old woman who ingested approximately 7 gm procainamide developed severe hypotension, renal insufficiency, and life-threatening cardiac toxicity. Hemodialysis doubled the rate of procainamide elimination and increased fourfold the clearance of NAPA, the N-acetylated metabolite of procainamide. Observations of procainamide and N-acetylprocainamide (NAPA) plasma levels during the patient's recovery suggest that lethargy and profound hypotension can be expected when these levels total 60 mug/ml and that severe cardiac toxicity should be anticipated with levels totaling 42 mug/ml or more. Hemodialysis also permitted investigation of the effects of hypotension on the pharmacokinetics of these compounds. The apparent volume of procainamide distribution was reduced from a normal value of 2 L/kg to 0.76 L/kg, and that of NAPA from 1.4 L/kg to 0.63 L/kg. The elimination + 1/2 of procainamide was prolonged from the normal of 3 hr to 10.5 hr, and that of NAPA from 6 to 35.9 hr. Procainamide absorption was also slowed in this clinical setting, causing procainamide plasma levels to continue rising for some time after toxicity was first recognized.

Acetylation

Transport of procainamide in a kidney epithelial cell line LLC-PK1.

Transport of procainamide, an anti-arrhythmic drug, was investigated in LLC-PK1 kidney epithelial cell line. The uptake of procainamide by LLC-PK1 monolayers cultured in plastic dishes was temperature-dependent, saturable and inhibited by organic cations such as cimetidine and N-acetylprocainamide. An aminocephalosporin antibiotic, cephalexin, also inhibited procainamide uptake, but an organic anion, p-aminohippurate, did not. The uptake of procainamide was greater at an alkaline external pH than at an acidic pH. In addition, procainamide uptake increased when intracellular pH was decreased and the uptake decreased when the intracellular pH was increased by ammonium chloride treatment, indicating the involvement of an H+/procainamide antiport system in apical membrane. The basolateral to apical flux of procainamide across LLC-PK1 monolayers cultured on permeable supports was 2.5-times larger than the apical to basolateral flux, and only the former process was inhibited by other organic cations. These findings suggest that LLC-PK1 cells can transport procainamide by the organic cation transport system and that procainamide is transported unidirectionally from basolateral to apical side across the cell monolayers.

Animals

N-Chlorination and oxidation of procainamide by myeloperoxidase: toxicological implications.

In previous studies we had shown that procainamide is metabolized to reactive metabolites by activated leukocytes, and evidence pointed to involvement of myeloperoxidase (MPO). In this study we examine the metabolism of procainamide by MPO/H2O2, in the presence and absence of chloride ion. In the absence of chloride ion, the metabolism was very similar to that seen with activated leukocytes. The major metabolite was formed by oxidation of the arylamine group to a hydroxylamine. In the presence of chloride ion, a much greater degree of metabolism occurred, and the major product (40% of the starting procainamide) was a reactive species that could not be isolated. This metabolite spontaneously rearranged to 3-chloroprocainamide, and from its mass spectrum and chemical reactions, we deduce its structure to be N-chloroprocainamide. The N-chloroprocainamide metabolite reacted very rapidly with reducing agents, such as ascorbate, and also reacted with protein such as albumin, the major product in both cases being procainamide. This metabolite also chlorinated phenylbutazone. When radiolabeled procainamide was oxidized by MPO/H2O2 in the presence of albumin, covalent binding of the radiolabel to albumin occurred, and binding was greater under conditions in which N-chloroprocainamide was formed. It is probable that the failure to observe N-chloroprocainamide, when procainamide is oxidized by activated leukocytes, is due to its rapid reaction with the cells. We propose that modification of neutrophils (or neutrophil precursors in the bone marrow) by these reactive metabolites is responsible for procainamide-induced agranulocytosis. In a similar manner, procainamide-induced lupus could be due to modification of monocytes by monocyte-generated reactive metabolites.

Albumins

Proarrhythmic effects of procainamide and tocainide in a canine infarction model.

A canine model of myocardial infarction (MI) was used to study the type and frequency of ventricular antiarrhythmic and proarrhythmic effects due to procainamide and tocainide and the risk factors associated with development of proarrhythmia. An anterior MI was created by a 2-h occlusion of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) with complete reperfusion. Programmed ventricular stimulation was performed on two occasions after MI, on days 4-6 and on days 8-10, before drug and during antiarrhythmic drug infusion at three dose levels. The antiarrhythmic drugs were given in a randomized cross-over design. Only procainamide caused a dose-dependent increase in QRS, JTc, and right ventricular effective refractory period (ERP). Neither procainamide nor tocainide made sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) noninducible, but procainamide slowed the tachycardia rate. Both drugs successfully made ventricular fibrillation (VF) noninducible: procainamide in 78% of trials and tocainide in 50% of trials. Proarrhythmia (development of inducible VT during drug when not present before drug or inability to terminate VT during drug administration) developed in 29% of dogs that received procainamide and 25% of dogs that received tocainide. There was no apparent correlation of QRS, JTc, and right ventricular ERP after drugs and proarrhythmia due to procainamide or tocainide. There was no significant difference in the size of MI between dogs with one or more proarrhythmic response to either drug and dogs that had no proarrhythmia. In this model, procainamide and tocainide had no antiarrhythmic efficacy for VT, but had moderate proarrhythmia potential that was unpredictable.

Animals

Polymorphic acetylation procainamide in man.

N-Acetylprocainamide (NAPA) and procainamide plasma and urine concentrations were determined by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) densitometry in people of known acetylator phenotype (dapsone phenotyping) taking procainamide for more than 3 days. The plasma NAPA/procainamide ratio 3 hr after the last dose for fast acetylators (mean plus or minus SD) is 1.8 plus or minus 0.59 (N equal to 8) and for slow acetylators, 0.61 plus or minus 0.09 (N equal to 6) P smaller than 0.001). The renal clearance of NAPA averaged 1.2 times the simultaneously measured endogenous creatinine clearance, whereas procainamide clearance was approximately double the creatinine clearance. There was no difference between slow and rapid acetylators in the renal clearance of either drug or the urine pH, indicating that the difference in plasma NAPA/procainamide ratios between these two groups is due to differences in their rates of acetylation. Therefore, procainamide is probably acetylated by the polymorphic N-acetyltransferase in man. Reflecting the blood level differences, the NAPA/procainamide ratio in urine (collected 99 to 180 min after last dose) was found to be higher in rapid than in slow acetylators. The plasma protein binding of NAa and of procainamide are similar. Since NAPA seems to have an antiarrhythmic potency similar to procainamide, NAPA probably contributes to the antiarrhythmic activity of procainamide therapy, especially in genetic rapid acetylators.

Acetylation

Cumulation of N-acetylprocainamide, an active metabolite of procainamide, in patients with impaired renal function.

N-Acetylprocainamide (NAPA) accumulated in the plasma of 6 cardiac patients with renal failure taking procainamide chronically for therapy (4 were undergoing hemodialysis) and contributed to the therapeutic and toxic effects of the procainamide. NAPA plasma levels ranged from 14.0 to 28.0 microgram/ml 3 hr after a dose of procainamide which is well above the 3-hr NAPA plasma levels of nonazotemic cardiac patients (range 1.9 to 6.3 microgram/ml; p = 0.002) on larger doses of procainamide. There was almost no decline in NAPA plasma levels on interdialysis days. In one of the patients with renal failure NAPA was still present 15 days (13.8 microgram/ml) and 38 days (0.9 microgram/ml) after procainamide was stopped, indicating a half-life of several days. Measurement of procainamide plasma concentrations by the usual fluorometric or colorimetric methods does not detect NAPA. Since NAPA accumulates in patients with impaired renal function, the concentrations of both this active metabolite and procainamide should be determined in these patients if drug level monitoring is to be helpful.

Acetylation

Metabolism of procainamide and p-aminobenzoic acid in patients with chronic liver disease.

Procainamide acetylation and hydrolysis, procainamide-derived p-amino-benzoic acid acetylation, and plasma hydrolysis of procaine were studied in normal volunteers and in 20 patients with chronic liver disease, Impairment of procainamide acetylation was evident in the patients, but no correlations were demonstrable between the degree of impairment and the severity of the disease. On the other hand, procainamide hydroylsis was diminished in liver disease, and as indicated by depression of serum albumin levels and plasma prothrombin activity this alteration did correlate with the degree of impairment of liver function. Procaine hydrolysis in plasma was also affected, the mean in vitro plasma half-life being prolonged in the patients with liver disease and correlating with the degree of hepatic impairment. A correlation of procainamide hydrolysis with procaine hydrolysis was also observed. Finally, acetylation of procainamide-derived p-aminobenzoic acid appeared to increase in patients with liver disease, the degree of acetylation increasing with decreasing procainamide hydrolysis capacity.

4-Aminobenzoic Acid

Effect of procainamide on induced ventricular tachycardia.

Ventricular extrastimulation was performed in 11 patients evaluated for chronic recurrent ventricular tachycardia, before and after a 1-gm procainamide infusion. Extrastimulation caused only nonsustained extra beats (less than 4) in 3 patients. Sustained tachycardia was induced in 7 patients in the basal state, of which 6 continued to have inducible tachycardia after procainamide was given (5.2 to 9.8 mg/L). The zone of coupling intervals that initiated tachycardia was unchanged or widened in these 6 patients because ventricular refractoriness was unchanged or because the tachycardia zone shifted to later diastole by an interval at least equivalent to the prolongation of ventricular refractoriness. Post-procainamide tachycardia cycle length was prolonged in all patients, by an average 51 msec. The one patient who responded to procainamide had a shortened ventricular refractory period, but the greatest slowing of tachycardia. Finally, sustained ventricular tachycardia could be induced in the eleventh patient only following procainamide administration, consistent with his clinical history. These results suggest that procainamide often may be ineffective in preventing sustained ventricular tachycardia, and that slowed conduction, rather than prolonged refractoriness, is the basis for the procainamide antiarrhythmic effect. Our data emphasize that antiarrhythmic drug effectiveness be evaluated in terms of effect on sustained arrhythmia rather than suppression of isolated ectopic beats.

Aged

Comparison of the acetylation of procainamide and sulfadimidine in man.

The acetylation of procainamide and sulfadimidine has been measured simultaneously in plasma and urine in 20 healthy human volunteers by a specific G.L.C. method, after single and multiple oral dral doses of procainamide retard tablets. A distinct bimodality (9 rapid and 11 slow acetylators) was apparent from the concentrations of procainamide and N-acetylprocainamide both in urine and plasma, which was in complete agreement with data about sulfadimidine acetylation. The influence of acetylator phenotype on the relative concentrations of procainamide and N-acetylprocainamide in plasma as cn 5 additional healthy subjects after a single oral dose of procainamide. The present results show that acetylator phenotype can now be determined using procainamide as the test substance, and for this purpose multiple doses offer hardly any advantage over a single dose of the drug. However, because the separation between rapid and slow acetylators is less pronounced for procainamide than for sulfadimidine, precise criteria must be established for the conditions of the test, and the influence of diseases, such as renal insufficiency, should be taken into consideration.

Acetylation