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Mathematical Distinction in Action Potential between Primo-Vessels and Smooth Muscle
Seong-Jin Cho1, Sang-Hun Lee, Wenji Zhang
1Acupuncture, Moxibustion & Meridian Research Center, Division of Standard Research, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon 305-811, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
We studied the action potential of Primo-vessels in rats to determine the electrophysiological characteristics of these structures. We introduced a mathematical analysis method, a normalized Fourier transform that displays the sine and cosine components separately, to compare the action potentials of Primo-vessels with those for the smooth muscle. We found that Primo-vessels generated two types of action potential pulses that differed from those of smooth muscle: (1) Type I pulse had rapid depolarizing and repolarizing phases, and (2) Type II pulse had a rapid depolarizing phase and a gradually slowing repolarizing phase.
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