Effect of clebopride, antidopaminergic gastrointestinal prokinetics, on cardiac repolarization

The inhibition of the potassium current IKr and QT prolongation has been known to be associated with drug-induced torsades de pointes arrhythmias (TdP) and sudden cardiac death. In this study, the authors investigated the cardiac electrophysiological effects of clebopride, a class of antidopaminergic gastrointestinal prokinetic, that has been reported to prolong the QT interval by using the conventional microelectrode recording techniques in isolated rabbit Purkinje fiber and whole-cell patch clamp techniques in human ether-à-go-go-related gene (hERG)-stably transfected Chinese hamster ovarian (CHO) cells. Clebopride at 10 μM significantly decreased the Vmax of phase 0 depolarization (p <.05) and significantly prolonged the action potential duration at 90% repolarization (APD90) (p <.01), whereas the action potential duration at 50% repolarization (APD50) was not prolonged. For hERG potassium channel currents, the IC50 value was 0.62 ± 0.30 μM. Clebopride was found to have no effect on sodium channel currents. When these results were compared with Cmax (1.02 nM) of clinical dosage (1 mg, [p.o.]), it can be suggested that clebopride is safe at the clinical dosage of 1 mg from the electrophysiological aspect. These findings indicate that clebopride, an antidopaminergic gastrointestinal prokinetic drug, may provide a sufficient "safety factor" in terms of the electrophysiological threshold concentration. But, in a supratherapeutic concentration that might possibly be encountered during overdose or impaired metabolism, clebopride may have torsadogenic potency.