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Central hemodynamic effects of cocaine and ritodrine in the isolated, perfused rat heart
J T Kurtzman1, J M Thorp, F J Spielman
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill.
Objective:
To explore the cardiac interactions of cocaine and ritodrine in pregnancy.
Methods:
Using the isolated, perfused rat-heart model, hearts from pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to increasing concentrations of ritodrine: 25, 50, 100, and 250 ng/mL. Hearts of half of the animals, the experimental group, were exposed to cocaine (5 x 10(-6) mol/L). Left ventricular systolic pressure, heart rate, and contractility were measured.
Results:
Ritodrine had marked positive inotropic and chronotropic effects. Cocaine exposure resulted in smaller increases in all indices.
Conclusion:
Cocaine blunted but did not obliterate the cardiac stimulatory effects of ritodrine in this model.