Effect of amiodarone on erythrocyte shape and membrane properties
- Resource Type
- Authors
- W H Reinhart; F Rohner
- Source
- Clinical science (London, England : 1979). 79(4)
- Subject
- Male
media_common.quotation_subject
Amiodarone
In Vitro Techniques
chemistry.chemical_compound
In vivo
Erythrocyte Deformability
medicine
Humans
Internalization
Lipid bilayer
Phospholipids
media_common
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Chemistry
Cholesterol
Erythrocyte Membrane
Arrhythmias, Cardiac
General Medicine
In vitro
Elasticity
Red blood cell
Membrane
medicine.anatomical_structure
Biochemistry
Biophysics
Female
medicine.drug
- Language
- ISSN
- 0143-5221
1. Amiodarone is a potent anti-arrhythmic drug with lipophilic properties. The intercalation of such a drug into the membrane of erythrocytes may alter their shape and have an impact on the flow properties of blood. We therefore studied the influence of amiodarone on erythrocyte shape and deformability in vitro and in vivo. 2. Incubation in vitro with increasing amiodarone concentrations led to a progressive stomatocytic shape transformation and a decreased deformability of the erythrocytes. 3. Amiodarone treatment in eight patients did not affect erythrocyte morphology and deformability. However, an increase in the membrane cholesterol/phospholipid ratio was found. 4. The stomatocytic shape transformation of erythrocytes in vitro indicates that amiodarone intercalates in the inner hemileaflet of the lipid bilayer leading to membrane internalization. These results shed light on the interaction of amiodarone with biomembranes.