Effect of chelidonine derivatives on atrial fibrillation

The number of patients suffering from atrial fibrillation is increasing and many cardiologists is trying to develop the ideal antiarrhythmic drugs for atrial fibrillation. An ideal antiarrhythmic agent would selectively prolong the action potential duration more in extraordinarily depolarized cardiac myocytes than in normal cells, and show tissue selectivity. Voltage-gated K$\^$+/ (Kv) channels represent a structurally and functionally diverse group of membrane proteins. These channels play an important role in determining the length of the cardiac action potential and are the targets for antiarrhythmic drugs. (omitted)