Addictive drugs, arrhythmias, and cardiac inward rectifiers

Abstract

In many addictive drugs including alcohol and nicotine, proarrhythmic effects were reported. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge in this field (with a focus on the inward rectifier potassium currents) to promote the lacking data and appeal for their completion, thus, to improve understanding of the proarrhythmic potential of addictive drugs.

Keywords: Addictive drug; Arrhythmias; Ethanol; Inward rectifier; Nicotine.