Excitability of muscle fibre membranes in dystrophic mice.

Abstract

When compared with controls, a larger proportion of muscle fibers from dystrophic mice responded to relatively small intra-cellular stimulating currents. In addition, many of the dystrophic fibers had reduced critical membrane depolarizations. Since membrane time constant was longer, membrane conductance may well be decreased in dystrophic fibers. There is now ample evidence from animal studies to indicate the need for conductance measurements in human myotonia.