Bepridil Explained

Bepridil (trade name Vascor) is an diamine calcium channel blocker once used to treat angina pectoris. It is no longer sold in the United States.

It is nonselective.^[1]

It has been discussed as a possible option in the treatment of atrial fibrillation.^[2]

It has been implicated in causing ventricular arrhythmia (torsades de pointes).

Ebola research

In June 2015 a research paper ^[3] was published finding bepridil to result in a 100% survival rate for mice exposed to ebola during an experiment searching for potential pharmaceutical ebola treatments; indicating its potential use in future ebola research and therapy.^[4]

SARS-CoV-2 research

A research paper ^[5] showed that Bepridil inhibited cytopathogenic effects induced by SARS-CoV-2 in Vero E6 cells and in A549 cells in an in vitro assay.

Notes and References

1. Bezprozvanny I, Tsien RW . Voltage-dependent blockade of diverse types of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes by the Ca2+ channel antagonist mibefradil (Ro 40-5967) . Molecular Pharmacology . 48 . 3 . 540–549 . September 1995 . 7565636 .
2. Imai S, Saito F, Takase H, Enomoto M, Aoyama H, Yamaji S, Yokoyama K, Yagi H, Kushiro T, Hirayama A . 6 . Use of bepridil in combination with Ic antiarrhythmic agent in converting persistent atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm . Circulation Journal . 72 . 5 . 709–715 . May 2008 . 18441448 . 10.1253/circj.72.709 . free .
3. Johansen LM, DeWald LE, Shoemaker CJ, Hoffstrom BG, Lear-Rooney CM, Stossel A, Nelson E, Delos SE, Simmons JA, Grenier JM, Pierce LT, Pajouhesh H, Lehár J, Hensley LE, Glass PJ, White JM, Olinger GG . 6 . A screen of approved drugs and molecular probes identifies therapeutics with anti-Ebola virus activity . Science Translational Medicine . 7 . 290 . 290ra89 . June 2015 . 26041706 . 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaa5597 . free .
4. News: Cha AE . 4 June 2015 . Washington Post . Zoloft as Ebola cure? Antidepressant is one of a number of promising drugs being looked at by scientists..
5. Vatansever EC, Yang KS, Drelich AK, Kratch KC, Cho CC, Kempaiah KR, Hsu JC, Mellott DM, Xu S, Tseng CK, Liu WR . 6 . Bepridil is potent against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 118 . 10 . e2012201118 . March 2021 . 33597253 . 7958448 . 10.1073/pnas.2012201118 . 2021PNAS..11812201V . free .