Changes in extracellular pH during electrical stimulation of isolated rat vagus nerve

Endres, W. and Grafe, Peter and Bostock, Hugh and Ten Bruggencate, Gerrit (1986): Changes in extracellular pH during electrical stimulation of isolated rat vagus nerve. In: Neuroscience Letters, Vol. 64, No. 2: pp. 201-205

Abstract

Double-barrelled pH-sensitive micro-electrodes were used to record changes of extracellular pH during repetitive stimulation of isolated rat vagus nerves. It was found that a small initial alkaline shift was followed by a prolonged acidification. The acidification was correlated in time with the poststimulus undershoot of the extracellular K+ activity and with the recovery phase of the nerve conduction velocity. In the presence of ouabain, the acid component of the pH change was completely abolished (indicating a metabolic origin), whereas the alkaline component remained unaltered. These pH changes were too small to make a significant contribution to the activity-related changes in conduction velocity of the vagal C-fibres.

• Item Type: Article
• Keywords: pH; vagus nerve; ion-sensitive micro-electrode; ouabain; excitability; rat
• Collections: Medicine
• Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health