ABSTRACT
Aim To establish an in vitro arrhythmia detection technique based on real-time cell analysis (RTCA) Cardio sys-tem with aconitine as a tool drug, and to provide a reliable method for the development of antiarrhythmic drugs. Methods The effects of aconitine on rat cardiac rhythm were detected by eight-channel physiological recorder at the level of whole animal. In vitro cultured cardiac myocytes, the inoculation density of cardiac myocytes was investigated by HTCA method, the effect of aconitine on cardiac beating was monitored by RTCA Cardio system, and the CI value, beating rate, amplitude and irregular rhythm of cardiac myocytes were analyzed. Results Eight-channel physiological recorder was used to detect the effects of aconitine on whole animals. The results showed that aconitine(50 mg • g"1) could induce arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, shortened RR interval and increased heart rate. RTCA Cardio system showed that aconitine (2-8 p,M) could induce arrhythmias such as increased cardiac cell beating frequency, decreased beating amplitude and abnormal beating state in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions RTCA Cardio system can rapidly, sensitively and accurately detect the arrhythmia induced by aconitine in cardiac myocytes, which provides methodological reference for the development of antiarrhythmic drugs.