A Mathematical Model for the Cardiac Action Potential Based on Slow Inactivation of Sodium Conductance

Abstract

A mathematical model for the action potential in Purkinje fibres is developed. It is based on voltage-clamp results which show that inactivation of sodium current in these muscles is much slower than in squid axon and that the latent rise in potassium conductance is not present. Both the sodium and the potassium conductances are represented as a sum of slow and fast components. This is incorporated in the suitably adjusted Hodgkin-Huxley model for the squid axon. It is shown that such a model can account satisfactorily for the shape of the action potentials in Purkinje fibres.