In Vitro Effects of Liquid Cardiac Drugs on Human Catalase Enzyme

When liquid medications are administered intravenously, the first cellular defense encountered by the drug is erythrocytes. Catalase is the main antioxidant system in erythrocytes. Drug-related catalase inhibition can cause adverse effects. Although catalase is a well-known enzyme, studies investigating drug-catalase interactions are scarce in the literature. Therefore, we investigated the impact of liquid cardiac drugs on human erythrocyte catalase activity in vitro.

Catalase activity was determined by a spectrophotometric method using a procedure developed by Aebi. Liquid cardiac drugs were incubated with human blood in vitro. IC50 values were compared among the drugs.

The most potent inhibitors were noradrenaline (IC50: 4.61 µM), adrenaline (IC50: 32.58 µM), and amiodarone hydrochloride (IC50: 41.86). Dopamine hydrochloride (IC50: 429.15 µM) and lidocaine hydrochloride (IC50: 453.1 µM) showed less inhibitory effects on catalase activity compared with adenosine (IC50: 58.49 µM), atropine sulfate (IC50: 68.75 µM), dobutamine hydrochloride (IC50: 80.79 µM), glyceryl trinitrate (IC50: 86.66 µM), and heparin sodium (IC50: 92.4 µM).

Noradrenaline, adrenaline, and amiodarone hydrochloride have strong inhibitory effects on catalase activity. Catalase inhibition may be responsible for the side effects of these drugs. Therefore, when these drugs are used in treatment, their dosages and duration of administration should be carefully controlled to prevent adverse effects due to catalase enzyme inhibition.