Cardiovascular depressant effects of the neomycin-streptomycin group of antibiotics.

Cardiovascular depressant effects of the neomycin-streptomycin group of antibiotics (aminoglycoside antibiotics) were examined during pentobarbital anesthesia in cats, dogs, and 4 species of nonhuman primates: owl (Aotus trivirgatus), squirrel (Saimiri sciureus), and rhesus (Macaca mulatta) monkeys, and dog-faced baboons (Papio cynocephalus). Intravenous administration of kanamycin, streptomycin, gentamicin, or neomycin produced various degrees of hypotension and relative bradycardia in all species examined. In surgically prepared (open-chest) baboons, neomycin consistently induced a dose-related depression of myocardial contractile force, maximum dF/dt of myocardial contraction, cardiac output, heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Maximum depression of hemodynamic values usually occurred within 2 to 5 minutes after administration of neomycin; cardiovascular function then gradually returned to control or near control levels within 30 to 60 minutes. Intravenous administration of calcium chloride rapidly reversed the neomycin-mediated alterations of cardiovascular function. Present findings indicated that aminoglycoside antibiotics altered cardiovascular dynamics in anesthetized animals, and indicated that this deleterious action(s) may be related to modification of calcium ion function.