Abstract
CERTAIN “inotropic” responses in which the strength of the heart beat increases are accompanied by a loss of potassium from the cells and a simultaneous gain of sodium1. The question of immediate interest is whether these changes of cellular ion content and of contractile force—if indeed they are always thus associated—reflect a mechanism which controls the heart twitch or whether they are incidental. We have set out to re-examine this question, much debated in the past but not yet entirely resolved2.
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GADSBY, D., NIEDERGERKE, R. & PAGE, S. Do Intracellular Concentrations of Potassium or Sodium Regulate the Strength of the Heart Beat?. Nature 232, 651–653 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/232651a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/232651a0
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