Effects of arachidonic, linoleic, linolenic and oleic acid on experimental arrhythmias in cats, rabbits and guinea-pigs.

Antiarrhythmic effects of the Prostaglandin (PG) precursors arachidonic and Linoleic acid were demonstrated on three models of experimental arrhythmias, whereas the fatty acids linolenic and oleic acid proved to be ineffective in these models. In ouabain-induced arrhythmias infusions of arachidonic acid (1, 0 mg/kg/min) caused a strong antiarrhythmic effect in 80 percent of the animals. On the same model linoleic acid showed a maximum effct in 40 percent of the animals. BaCl2-induced arrhythmias were abolished by arachidonic and linoleic acid in 60 percent and 66 percent of the rabbits, respectively. Pretreatment by indomethacin reduced the antiarrhythmic effects of linoleic acid from 40 percent to 9 percent on ouabain-induced arrhythmias in cats. The results suggest a participation of PG synthesis in the antiarrhythmic effect of PG precursors.