Figure 5. Concentration-dependent block of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in adult rat ventricular myocytes.
A, concentration-response curves for the n-3 PUFAs, DHA, EPA and ALA. The degree of block of the sodium current for each cell was measured as a fraction of the control current, to compensate for differences in peak current amplitude due to differences in cell size. The lines show the least squares fit using the Hill equation (eqn (3)), which gave EC50 values of 6.0 ± 1.2 μM (mean ±s.e.m., n = 5), 16.2 ± 1.3 μM (n = 5) and 26.6 ± 1.3 μM (n = 6) for DHA (^), EPA (•) and ALA (□), respectively. B, dose-response relationship for shift in inactivation (ΔV′) and fatty acid concentration.