scholarly journals Slow inward current and contraction of sheep cardiac Purkinje fibers.

1975 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
W R Gibbons ◽  
H A Fozzard

A "slow" inward current (Is) has been identified in ventricular muscle and Purkinje fibers of several mammalian species. The two-microelectrode voltage clamp technique is used to examine some of the relationships between Is and contraction of the sheep cardiac Purkinje fiber. "Tails" of inward current occurring on repolarization and extrapolation of Is recovery each show that the Is system may not inactivate completely during prolonged depolarization. The rate of recovery of Is after a depolarization is slow, and when a train of 300-ms clamps (frequency 1 s-1) is begun after a rest, Is is larger for the first clamp than it is for succeedings clamps. For the first clamp after a rest, the thresholds for Is and tension are the same and there is a direct correlation between peak tension and peak Is for clamp voltages between threshold and minus 40 mV. After a clamp, however, the ability to contract recovers much more slowly than does Is. Therefore, since Is may occur under certain conditions without tension, the realtionship between Is and tension must be indirect. Calcium entering the cell via this current may replenish or augment an intracellular calcium pool.

1985 ◽  
Vol 249 (1) ◽  
pp. H122-H132
Author(s):  
J. M. Jaeger ◽  
W. R. Gibbons

We have tried to answer two fundamental questions concerning the outward current IX1 of cardiac Purkinje fibers. 1) Is it possible that current changes identified as arising from IX1 in voltage-clamp experiments are actually manifestations of changes in the slow inward current (Isi); and 2) is IX1 in fact required to produce the electrical phenomena attributed to it? Isi behavior and the role of IX1 were explored using computer simulation. The Isi model produced current changes during depolarizations and hyperpolarizations from depolarized resting potentials like those attributed to IX1. It also produced a component of "tail currents" that behaved like IX1. If these current changes were analyzed, assuming that an outward current is responsible, the resulting kinetics and current voltage relation would be very similar to the kinetics and current voltage relation reported for IX1. Using the McAllister, Noble, and Tsien formulation of the Purkinje fiber action potential, we found that IX1 is not essential for repolarization of the reconstructed action potential nor is it needed to reproduce interval duration effects and the effects of applied current in that model. Data suggesting that calcium channel blockers reduce IX1 and that catecholamines increase IX1 may be explained as arising from changes in Isi. Thus many manifestations of IX1 can be explained as arising from unanticipated behavior of Isi, and IX1 does not necessarily play a key role in generating Purkinje fiber electrical activity.


1985 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 877-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
C J Nieman ◽  
D A Eisner

Membrane current and tension were measured in voltage-clamped sheep cardiac Purkinje fibers. Elevating the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) results in oscillations of membrane current and tension both at rest and during stimulation. During stimulation, an oscillatory transient inward current and an after contraction follow repolarization. We have examined the effects on the oscillations of changing the extracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]o) and of adding various drugs. In agreement with previous work, high concentrations of drugs that affect the sarcoplasmic reticulum, namely caffeine (10-20 mM), tetracaine (1 mM), and ryanodine (10 microM), abolish the oscillations. However, at lower concentrations, these three drugs have different effects on the oscillations. Caffeine (1-2 mM) decreases the oscillation amplitude but increases the frequency. Tetracaine (100-500 microM) has little effect on the magnitude of the oscillations but decreases their frequency. Ryanodine, at all concentrations used (0.1-10 microM), eventually abolishes the oscillations but, in doing so, decreases the magnitude, leaving the frequency unaffected. When [Ca2+]o was changed in order to vary [Ca2+]i, both the frequency and the magnitude of the oscillations always changed in the same direction. This suggests that these three drugs have effects in addition to just changing [Ca2+]i.


1984 ◽  
Vol 247 (6) ◽  
pp. H936-H945 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Elharrar ◽  
H. Atarashi ◽  
B. Surawicz

We studied the effects of pharmacologic probes that affect predominantly the Na inward current [tetrodotoxin (TTX), lidocaine], the slow inward current [cobalt, isoproterenol, verapamil], and the potassium currents [tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA), SG-75] on the duration of the action potential (APD) of canine cardiac Purkinje fibers during steady state and restitution. A schema is proposed in which the APD during steady state or restitution is determined by three factors: maximum action potential duration (APDmax), kinetics of restitution, and “memory.” The predicted APDmax was 469 +/- 34 (SE) ms (n = 27) in control. It was prolonged (P less than 0.05) by cobalt, verapamil, and TEA and shortened (P less than 0.05) by TTX, lidocaine, isoproterenol, and SG-75. In control, the kinetics of restitution were described by a sum of two exponentials with time constant T1 = 137 +/- 9 ms and T2 = 1,665 +/- 135 ms (n = 27), respectively. T1 was prolonged (P less than 0.05) by TTX, lidocaine, and verapamil but was not changed by other probes. None of the probes studied altered the T2 of restitution or the memory factor, computed at a cycle length of 500 ms from the predicted APDmax and the plateau of restitution. Low temperature (31 degrees C) prolonged APDmax and T1 and reduced the memory. We conclude that each of the proposed three factors is controlled by different mechanisms and that a TTX-sensitive current appears to contribute to the process of restitution of APD.


1985 ◽  
Vol 249 (1) ◽  
pp. H108-H121
Author(s):  
J. M. Jaeger ◽  
W. R. Gibbons

Two outward currents, IX1 and IX2, are thought to be activated by depolarization of the Purkinje fiber. One of these, IX1, is presently believed to play a critical role in repolarization of the action potential. The IX currents were originally analyzed in voltage-clamp experiments in sheep Purkinje fibers. These experiments were designed to minimize interference by other currents, and it was assumed that changes of the net current were produced entirely by the IX currents. We have tried to repeat the original experiments and the analysis that led to acceptance of the existence and roles of the IX currents, without success. Moreover, tests of how membrane current should behave if the IX current hypothesis is correct did not give satisfactory results. Our data suggest the original conclusions about IX1 and IX2 may need substantial revision.


1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (9) ◽  
pp. 1153-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Deslauriers ◽  
E. Ruiz-Ceretti ◽  
O. F. Schanne ◽  
M. D. Payet

The electrophysiologic effects of a toxic concentration of ouabain (10−5 M) were studied in frog atrial trabeculae. The toxic concentration was determined by the appearance of a negative inotropic effect and an increase in basal tension. Current- and voltage-clamp measurements were performed. Ouabain did not alter the passive electrical properties of the preparation. Under current-clamp conditions the membrane depolarized and the action potential amplitude as well as its maximum rate of rise decreased. The current–voltage curve for the fast inward current was shifted toward more positive potentials and the maximum sodium current decreased. The maximum sodium conductance was also reduced. The process of reactivation of the fast inward current was accelerated. The slow inward current and the maximum slow conductance also decreased under ouabain. These effects could explain the negative inotropic action of high concentrations of glycosides, as well as the action potential changes observed by several investigators. They also help to understand the arrhythmogenic effects of high concentrations of digitalis.


1982 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. 1015-1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wiemer ◽  
R. Ziskoven ◽  
C. Achenbach

To conclude our investigation of thallium effects on cardiac tissues, we studied the slow inward current of sheep cardiac Purkinje fibres exposed to 10-7 to 10-5 ᴍ Tl+ for extended periods of up to 80 min. Our previous results had suggested a possible involvement of the slow inward current during thallium intoxication: a) the modification of contractility staircases observed during thallium exposure, b) action potential recordings of ventricular muscle, c) changes in spontaneous beating in sino-atrial preparations. The thallium levels chosen were between those yielding strong positive inotropic transients and those producing a marked long­term decay of contraction force.The slow inward current was measured using a conventional two-microelectrode-technique and the standard voltage clamp protocol for this current system. The experimental work was restricted to the determination of d∞, the kinetics of activation of the slow inward current and of īsi, the current voltage relation of the current system. This was necessary since the effects of thallium were known to be short-lived and therefore frequent repeat runs of the voltage clamp program had to be performed in order to obtain the time courses of possible transient changes.The results showed that the slow inward current was first increased and then declined at the low concentration of 10-7 ᴍ Tl+. At 10-5 m Tl+ the initial increase was smaller, whereas the decay of the slow inward current proceeded to lower values. Comparison with contractility measure­ments at the same concentrations of thallium showed a distinct parallelism between changes of the slow inward current and myocardial contractility. Despite this apparent relationship, we do not conclude that the contractile events are primarily a result of changes of the slow inward current, since thallium does not seem to specifically alter the parameters of the slow inward current at the membrane level.


1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (1) ◽  
pp. H226-H237 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Satoh ◽  
M. Vassalle

Caffeine-norepinephrine interactions were studied in canine cardiac Purkinje fibers perfused in vitro. Caffeine (0.5-1 mM) or theophylline (0.5-1 mM) increased and then decreased contractile force in the absence and presence of 0.5-10 microM norepinephrine (NE) [in high extracellular calcium concentration ([Ca]o) caffeine only decreases force]. Occasionally, caffeine only decreased force in the presence of NE. In the presence of NE and 12 mM (sometimes even 4 mM) extracellular potassium concentration, caffeine did not decrease force below the precaffeine level. Reciprocally, in 0.5-2 mM caffeine NE increased force, although less than in the absence of caffeine. Even in 9 mM caffeine, NE increased force but slowed the final phase three repolarization of the action potential. Both NE and 8.1 mM [Ca]o increased force, but NE decreased force in the presence of high [Ca]o. In NE and propranolol (or propranolol alone), caffeine only increased force, whereas it had the usual effects in the presence of methoxamine or phenotolamine. In the presence of iodoacetic acid and 2-deoxy-D-glucose, NE caused contracture and caffeine exaggerated it. In contrast, in NE and 2 mM Mn, caffeine only increased force. It is concluded that initially NE diminishes the cytoplasmic calcium overload induced by caffeine (by promoting Ca uptake into the sarcoplasmic reticulum) and subsequently enhances it (by increasing the slow inward current).


1980 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 589-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. GYENES ◽  
A. A. BULYCHEV ◽  
G. A. KURELLA

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