The present study investigated the effects of dronedarone and amiodarone on plasma thyroid hormones and the possible consequences on the response of the heart to ischemia. Amiodarone (30 mg/kg/day per os) or dronedarone (30 mg/kg/day per os) were administered for 2 weeks in normal and thyroxine-treated animals (25 microg/100 g body weight od sc, for 2 weeks), while animals without amiodarone and dronedarone served as controls. Isolated rat hearts were perfused in a Langendorff mode and subjected to 20 and 30 min of zero-flow global ischemia followed by 45 min of reperfusion. Functional changes were assessed by measuring left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) under resting conditions and in response to ischemia-reperfusion, LVDP%, as well as the severity of ischemic contracture. Amiodarone resulted in increased T4, T4/T3 and rT3, whereas dronedarone did not alter the thyroid hormone profile in normal animals. In thyroxine-treated animals, amiodarone increased T4/T3 ratio but T4, T3 and rT3 levels were not altered. Basal functional parameters and ischemic contracture did not change by amiodarone and/or dronedarone neither in normal nor in thyroxine-treated hearts. In normal hearts, postischemic functional recovery, LVDP%, was not altered by amiodarone or dronedarone administration. LVDP% was statistically higher in thyroxine-treated hearts than in normal and this beneficial effect was not abolished by amiodarone or dronedarone treatment.