title: Functional and electrophysiologic effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on exictable tissues: heart and brain.
abstract: It has been shown in animals and probably in humans, that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are antiarrhythmic. The free PUFAs stabilize the electrical activity of isolated cardiac myocytes by inhibiting sarcolemmal ion channels, so that a stronger electrical stimulus is required to elicit an action potential and the relative refractory period is markedly prolonged. This appears at present to be the probable major antiarrhythmic mechanism of the PUFAs. They similarly inhibit the Na+ and Ca2+ currents in rat hippocampal neurons which results in an increase in the electrical threshold for generalized seizures using the cortical stimulation model in rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown 02129, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leaf
authors.forename: J X
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Y F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Billman
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Voskuyl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000502:physiology*; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated