Repetitive action potentials induced in chloride-free solution: effect of denervation

Isometric mechanical activity and action potentials registered with intracellular microelectrodes were studied in innervated and denervated fibers of the soleus muscle of the rat in normal and chloride-free solutions. The chloride-free solution promoted in both innervated and denervated fibers an increment in the resting membrane potential. The innervated muscles showed long mechanical relaxation and repetitive action potentials after a single depolarizing pulse. On the contrary, denervated muscles were resistant to show mechanical and electrical changes in the chloride-free medium. Spontaneous and evoked action potentials from innervated muscle fibers were abolished by tetrodotoxin. The evoked action potentials generated in denervated fibers had a slower time course and were resistant to tetrodotoxin. After 7 to 10 days of denervation the input resistance was increased by about 30%. Substitution of chloride with sulfate resulted in a 150% increase in input resistance of innervated muscle fibers and 80% in denervated preparations. Alterations in the ionic conductances, a decrease in the maximum rate of rise of the action potentials, and changes in the sodium current kinetics could be the main factors for the absence of repetitive action potentials in denervated fibers exposed to the chloride-free medium.