BACKGROUND Despite the widespread clinical application of ropivacaine, there is little information on the cellular cardiac effects of the drug. In the current study, therefore, the concentration-dependent effects of ropivacaine on action potential morphology and the underlying ion currents were studied and compared with those of bupivacaine in isolated canine ventricular cardiomyocytes. METHO...

Hippocampal CA1 neurons exposed to zero-[Ca] solutions can generate periodic spontaneous synchronized activity in the absence of synaptic function. Experiments using hippocampal slices showed that, after exposure to zero-[Ca]0 solution, CA1 pyramidal cells depolarized 5–10 mV and started firing spontaneous action potentials. Spontaneous single neuron activity appeared in singlets or was grouped...

The signaling properties of thalamocortical (TC) neurons depend on the diversity of ion conductance mechanisms that underlie their rich membrane behavior at subthreshold potentials. Using patch-clamp recordings of TC neurons in brain slices from mice and a realistic conductance-based computational model, we characterized seven subthreshold ion currents of TC neurons and quantified their individ...

Influence of distributed generation systems in the distribution systems can increase the level of short-circuit current. The effectiveness of distributed generation systems is affected by the size, location, type of distributed generation systems technology, and the methods of connecting to distribution systems. Wind turbine system is the examples of distributed generation source. Not only does...

Although rhythmic behaviour of mammalian spinal ventral horn networks has been extensively studied little is known about oscillogenesis in the spinal dorsal horn. The aims of this in vitro study were to record and determine the underlying mechanisms of potassium-evoked network field oscillations in the substantia gelatinosa of the neonatal rat dorsal horn, a lamina involved in nociceptive proce...

It has been demonstrated that Xenopus laevis oocytes are sensitive to catechol­ amines. The oocyte response is characterized as being of beta adrenergic nature and is electrophysiologically measured as a transient increase in potassium con­ ductance (hyperpolarizing current in holding potential —40 mV) (VanRenterghem et al.1985).The aim of this paper was to study the decline of the oocyte respo...

Colchicine is a microtubule disruptor that reduces the occurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after an operation or ablation. However, knowledge of the effects of colchicine on atrial myocytes is limited. The aim of this study was to determine if colchicine can regulate calcium (Ca(2+) ) homeostasis and attenuate the electrical effects of the extracellular matrix on atrial myocytes. Whole-cell ...

A number of mutations have been shown to affect potassium channels in Drosophila muscle. Single-channel analysis of the effects of mutations will prove a powerful approach for studying the molecular mechanisms of ion channel gating. As an initial step towards studying the effects of mutations at the single-channel level, we have characterized wild-type potassium channels in cultured embryonic m...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. Previous genome-wide association studies had identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms in several genomic regions to be associated with AF. In human genome, copy number variations (CNVs) are known to contribute to disease susceptibility. Using a genome-wide multistage approach to identify AF susceptibility CNVs, we here ...

The single sucrose gap technique was employed to study the electrically induced automaticity in rabbit papillary muscles. When the potential was clamped at the level of the "maximum diastolic potential" following the first spike of automaticity an initial decline of the outward ionic current with subsequent activation of the delayed potassium current was observed. The initial decline was potent...