Central antiarrhythmic effects of imidazole in anesthetized rats

In urethane anesthetized rats, the intracerebroventricular (icv.) microinjection of sodium glutamate or KCl induced cardiac arrhythmias. These cardiac rhythm disorders could be prevented by the icv. administration of imidazole. The i.v. injection of the same doses of imidazole elicited cardiac arrhythmias. The antiarrhythmic activity of imidazole is probably due to its ability to stimulate phosphodiesterase activity, which leads to a decrease in cGMP and/or cAMP cerebral levels.