Key result
Carvacrol reversibly slows myocardial conduction velocity and lengthens activation time by ~11 ms.
High concentrations (≥100 μM) of Carvacrol, a widely used food additive, can reversibly modulate and impair cardiac electrical conduction by acting as a nonspecific ion channel blocker.
High-dose carvacrol may impair conduction in preclinical models; leaves open relevance to dietary safety in humans.
Despite the wide application of carvacrol (CAR) in medicines, dietary supplements, and foods, there is still insufficient electrophysiological data on the mechanisms of action of CAR, particularly with regard to heart function. Therefore, in this study, we attempted to elucidate whether CAR, whose inhibitory effect on both cardiac and vascular TRPM7 and L‐type Ca 2+ currents has been demonstrated previously, could modify cardiac electrical activity. We used a combination of optical mapping and microelectrode techniques to track the action potentials (APs) and the spread of electrical activity in a Langendorff‐perfused rabbit heart model during atrial/endo/epicardial pacing. Simultaneously, ECG recordings were acquired. Because human trials on CAR are still lacking, we tested the action of CAR on human ventricular preparations obtained from explanted hearts. Activation time (AT), AP duration (APD), and conduction velocity maps were constructed. We demonstrated that at a low concentration (10 μ M) of CAR, only marginal changes in the AP parameters were observed. At higher concentrations (≥100 μ M), a decrease in AP upstroke velocity ( d V / d t max ), suggesting inhibition of Na + current, and APD (at 50 and 90% repolarization) was detected; also slowing in the spread of electrical signals via the atrioventricular node was observed, suggesting impaired functioning of Ca 2+ channels. In addition, a decrease in the T‐wave amplitude was seen on the ECG, suggesting an impaired repolarization process. Nevertheless, those changes occurred without a significant impact on the resting membrane potential and were reversible. We suggest that CAR might play a role in modulating cardiac electrical activity at high concentrations.
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Almanaitytė et al. (2020) studied this question. Carvacrol vs. Baseline (Tyrode or cardioplegic solution without Carvacrol) was evaluated on Changes in action potential parameters (activation time, action potential duration, conduction velocity). Carvacrol at ≥100 μM reversibly decreased conduction velocity and action potential upstroke velocity, and lengthened activation time (e.g., from 140 ms to 151.2 ms in human tissues, p=0.003).
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