Mechanisms of quinidine-induced depression of maximum upstroke velocity in ovine cardiac Purkinje fibers.

A major advance in understanding how quinidine depresses maximum upstroke velocity (Vmax) is the Hondeghem-Katzung mathematical model which incorporates voltage-independent rate constants for binding to and unbinding from resting, open, and inactive Na channels, and a voltage shift of -40 mV for the Hodgkin-Huxley h-kinetics of quinidine-associated Na channels. Using a double microelectrode voltage clamp technique to control transmembrane voltage and apply conditioning pulses, we found that quinidine blockade increased as transmembrane voltage became more positive in the range -60 to +40 mV, and that the rate of quinidine dissociation increased as transmembrane voltage became more negative in the range -60 to -140 mV. The relationship of Vmax to transmembrane voltage obtained at drive cycles from 500 msec to 20 seconds conformed to the model modified to include voltage-dependent rate constants without the postulated -40-mV shift for quinidine-associated channels. Thus binding of quinidine to inactive Na channels and unbinding from resting channels are both voltage-dependent and can explain frequency and voltage dependent actions of quinidine on Vmax without any voltage shift for quinidine-associated channels.