Spironolactone prevents aldosterone induced increased duration of atrial fibrillation in rat.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in clinical practice. The Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone-System plays a major role for the atrial structural and electrical remodelling. Recently elevated aldosterone levels have been suggested to increase the risk for the development of AF.

Aldosterone induces electrical remodeling independent of hypertension.

Background: Treatment of heart failure patients with aldosterone antagonists has been shown to reduce the occurrence of sudden cardiac death. Therefore we aimed at determining the consequences of chronic exposure to aldosterone and the aldosterone antagonists eplerenone and spironolactone on the electrophysiological properties of the heart in a rat model.

Methods And Results: Male Wistar rats were chronically treated (4weeks) with aldosterone (ALD) via an osmotic minipump.