Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine provoke arrhythmias at concentrations higher than those clinically used to treat COVID-19: A simulation study.

ABSTRACT: The risk of fatal arrhythmias is the major concern for using chloroquine (CQ) or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the reported number of life-threatening arrhythmic events or deaths is relatively small. The objective of this study was to assess the arrhythmogenic risk of these two drugs using a multiscale heart simulation, which allows testing even at high concentrations, including those that cause fatal arrhythmias. We measured the inhibitory action of CQ, HCQ, and HCQ with 30 μM azithromycin (AZ) on six ion currents (fast [INa] and late [INa,L] components of the sodium current, L-type calcium current [ICa,L], rapid [IKr/hERG], and slow [IKs] components of delayed rectifier potassium, and inward rectifier potassium [IK1]) over a wide range of conc

SUBMITTER: Okada JI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8212750 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature