Electrical Activity of a Mammalian Vein

Abstract

RECENTLY it was found (Sutter, unpublished) that spiral strips cut from the anterior mesenteric vein of rabbits showed marked spontaneous contractions when suspended in Krebs–Henseleit solution at 37° C. Vascular smooth muscle is generally considered to be of the multi-unit type and to be devoid of spontaneous conducted activity. It was thought that the spontaneously active anterior mesenteric vein strip might prove a suitable tissue for investigating the electrical activity of vascular tissue.