In Vitro Studies Indicate Intravenous Lipid Emulsion Acts as Lipid Sink in Verapamil Poisoning

Intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE), a component of parenteral nutrition, consists of a fat emulsion of soy bean oil, egg phospholipids, and glycerin. Case reports suggest that ILE may reverse hypotension caused by acute poisoning with lipophilic drugs such as verapamil, but the mechanism remains unclear. The methods used are the following: (1) measurement of ILE concentration in serum samples from a patient with verapamil poisoning treated with ILE, (2) measurement of free verapamil concentrations in human serum mixed in vitro with increasing concentrations of ILE, and (3) measurement of murine ventricular cardiomyocyte l-type Ca²⁺ currents, intracellular Ca²⁺, and contractility in response to verapamil and/or ILE. Maximum patient serum ILE concentration after infusion of 1 L ILE over 1 h was approximately 1.6 vol%. In vitro GC/MS verapamil assays showed that addition of ILE (0.03–5.0 vol%) dose-dependently decreased the free verapamil concentration in human serum. In voltage-clamped myocytes, adding ILE to Tyrode’s solution containing 5 μM verapamil recovered l-type Ca²⁺ currents (I_Ca). Recovery was concentration dependent, with significant I_Ca recovery at ILE concentrations as low as 0.03 vol%. ILE had no effect on I_Ca in the absence of verapamil. In field-stimulated intact ventricular myocytes exposed to verapamil, adding ILE (0.5 %) resulted in a rapid and nearly complete recovery of myocyte contractility and intracellular Ca²⁺. Our in vitro studies indicate that ILE acts as a lipid sink that rapidly reverses impaired cardiomyocyte contractility in the continued presence of verapamil.