Effects of amsacrine (m-AMSA), a new aminoacridine antitumor drug, on the rabbit heart.

There is emerging clinical evidence that amsacrine (m-AMSA) administration may be associated with cardiotoxic effects such as severe, even fatal, ventricular arrhythmias and impairment of the inotropic performance of the heart. Information on the cardiac effects of m-AMSA in animals is scanty. Studies on mice, dogs, and monkeys have not evidenced the cardiotoxicity of the compound. The data presented in this paper show that m-AMSA causes acute ECG alterations in normal rabbits and a dose-related negative inotropic effect on the isolated rabbit heart, suggesting that this species may be a useful model for the study of the cardiac actions of this antiblastic.