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Slow current systems in the A-V node of the rabbit heart

Nature volume 285, pages 228–229 (1980)Cite this article

Abstract

If the heart is to function as an efficient pump, there must be an adequate time delay between the contraction of the atria and that of the ventricles. A major part of this delay is provided by the time of conduction of excitation across the atrioventricular (A-V) node, which electrically links the ventricles with the atria. When the primary pacemaker in the sinoatrial (S-A) node fails to control the cardiac rhythm, as the result of either a depressed automaticity or an impaired conduction, the A-V node can become the pacemaker of the heart1. In spite of these essential physiological functions of the A-V node, the precise ionic bases of conduction and the automaticity in the A-V node tissue remain unclear. Here we demonstrate the slow inward current as well as the delayed potassium current in the A-V node using the two-microelectrode voltage-clamp technique.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Myodaiji, Okazaki, 444, Japan

    A. Noma, H. Irisawa, S. Kokobun, H. Kotake, M. Nishimura & Y. Watanabe

  2. Department of Physiology, Jikeikai Medical School, Toyko, Japan

    S. Kokobun

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Tottori University School of Medicine, Yonago, Japan

    H. Kotake

  4. Cardiovascular Institute, Fujita Gakuen University, Toyoake, Japan

    M. Nishimura & Y. Watanabe

Authors
  1. A. Noma
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  2. H. Irisawa
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  3. S. Kokobun
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  4. H. Kotake
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  5. M. Nishimura
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  6. Y. Watanabe
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Noma, A., Irisawa, H., Kokobun, S. et al. Slow current systems in the A-V node of the rabbit heart. Nature 285, 228–229 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/285228a0

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