S2: Heart - Cardiac Drugs Flashcards
What are cardiac drugs?
Drugs that affect:
- HR
- Contractility/Ionotropic effect
- Afterload
- Coronary blood flow
- Common cardiovascular disease (CVD)
Why lower heart rate?
High heart rate is a predictor of morbidity and mortality from CVD
- Resting rate of >70 bpm is considered to show greater risk
High HR is ..
- Linked to atherosclerosis/ coronary artery plaque distruption
- Increases myocardial O2 consumption so heart must work harder
- Reduces coronary circulation perfusion time which only occurs during diastole
- Increases risk of arrhythmias
Drugs that reduce heart rate are central to treating CVD e.g. angina, heart failure, post-MI treatment, arrhythmias
How can you regulate heart rate?
Changing sino-atrial pacemaker potential frequency by decreasing initiation and frequency of pacemaker potentials.
It does this by:
- Inhibiting voltage gated Ca2+ channels: Reduce phase 0, slower upstroke
- Inhibiting If channels: Increase phase 4, slower to activate Ca2+ channels
- Changing autonomic control of SAN
What are Ca2+ channel blockers?
Drugs that sit in pore of channel and block Ca2+ entry into sino-atrial cells reducing HR
What are the concerns when using Ca2+ channel blockers?
Ca2+ channels are also found in cardiac myocytes (phase 2, plateau phase) and VSM where they provide Ca2+ influx needed for contraction.
Therefore there is a need to selectively target Ca2+ channels in SAN.
Non-selective blocking actions on Ca2+ channels in cardiac myocytes (needed for contractility) and AV node needed for atria-ventricle conduction could make heart failure worst, cause heart block
What are the 3 subtypes of Ca2+ channel blockers?
· Dihydropyridines (vascular selective) in vascular smooth muscles, often used for hypetension – amlodipine
·
Diphenylalkyamines (cardiac selective) – Verapamil
Benzothiazepines (vascular+cardiac) – Diltiazem
As cardiac and vascular smooth muscle have slightly different Ca2+ channel structures use Verapamil, diltiazem
Describe If channel blockers and give an example
Ivrabradine
- Selective inhibitor of If channel in the sino-atrial node
- Decreases pacemaker potential frequency
- Decreases HR to reduce myocardial O2 demand
- Used to lower HR in heart failure, angina
Mechanism of changing autonomic control of SAN
-Increase in B1 activity –> Sympathetic (GaS)
This increases If channel activity increasing HR
- Increase M2 –> Parasympathetic (Gai)
This decreases If channel activity which decreases HR
What do B1-adrenoreceptor blockers do?
Give an example
They reduce action of sympathetic nervous system (NA/A) on sino-atrial node
- Prevent HR from increasing too much reducing work/O2 demands on the heart
- B1-adrenoreceptor blockers are central drugs in the treatment of angina
Example: Atenolol
Concerns of B1-adrenoreceptor blockers
- Not perfectly selective so it could have effects on B2 receptor (though not as much as B1). In the lungs of asthmatic patients, B2 would cause bronchoconstriction
- Could make heart failure work
- Don’t use in combination with calcium channel blocker - can reduce contractility and produce bradycardia
- Fatigue because inability to increase HR during excersize
Describe Muscarinic receptor blockers
Give an example
- Will reduce activity of parasympathetic nervous system (vagus, Ach) on sino-atrial node
- Removal of inhibitory influence on heart rate - vagal
- Muscarinic blockers increase heart rate creating a more stable CO during sinus bradycardia e.g. following MI
Example: Atropine
Concerns with muscarinic receptor blockers
- Muscarinic blockers are used to treat many conditions e.g. COPD, IBS, overactive bladder so tachycardia may be a side effect
- As tachycardia increases O2 demands on the heart it is important in patients with co-morbidities e.g. COPD and angina
Why increase contractility (ionotropic effect)?
During heart failure where:
- CO is not properly maintained
- End organs are poorly perfused
This can be corrected by:
- Increase in contractiltiy
- Increase ejective force
- Increase in stroke volume : CO = HR x SV
What are the two types of heart failure?
Acute heart failure – cardiac arrest, sepsis
Chronic heart failure – cardiomyopathy, chronic hypertension, valve disease
List the types of drugs that increase contractility (ionotropic agents)
- Gs coupled receptor agonist and pathways
- PDE inhibitors
- Other Ca2+ rising processes