Eugenol delays the onset of ouabain-induced ventricular cardiac arrhythmias in guinea pigs

Eugenol is an aromatic compound used in the manufacture of medicines, perfumes, cosmetics and as an anaesthetic due to the ability of the drug to block the neuronal isoform of voltage-gated Na⁺ channels (Na_V). Some arrhythmias are associated with gain of function in the sodium current (I_Na) found in cardiomyocytes, and antiarrhythmic sodium channel blockers are commonly used in the clinical practice. This study sought to elucidate the potential mechanisms of eugenol's protection in the arrhythmic model of ouabain-induced arrhythmias in guinea pig heart. Ex vivo arrhythmias were induced using 50 μM of ouabain. The antiarrhythmic properties of eugenol were evaluated in the ex vivo heart preparation and isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes. The compound's effects on cardiac sodium current and action potential using the patch-clamp technique were evaluated. In all, eugenol decreased the ex vivo cardiac arrhythmias induced by ouabain. Furthermore, eugenol showed concentration dependent effect upon peak I_Na, left-shifted the stationary inactivation curve and delayed the recovery from inactivation of the I_Na. All these aspects are considered to be antiarrhythmic. Our findings demonstrate that eugenol has antiarrhythmic activity, which may be partially explained by the ability of eugenol to change de biophysical properties of I_Na of cardiomyocytes.