End-plate electromyography: Use of spectral analysis of end-plate noise

✍ Scribed by Ricardo A. Maselli

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 90 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0148-639X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4598(199701)20:1<52::aid-mus7>3.0.co;2-g

✦ Synopsis

An automated technique for estimating the channel open time of human end-plate acetylcholine receptors (AChR) is described. The method, which is based on the power spectral analysis of electromyographic end-plate noise, is simple and permits a rapid estimation of the dominant AChR ion channel kinetics. Values of AChR channel open time determined by spectral analysis of end-plate noise in adults (1.23 ± 0.01 ms at 33°C) were consistently shorter than those estimated from the decay phase of extracellularly recorded miniature end-plate potentials. The channel open time extracted from the end-plate noise compared well with that derived from the analysis of in vitro recorded acetylcholine-induced current noise. Therefore, spectral analysis of end-plate noise may provide a good estimation of the kinetics of the human AChR ion channel. The technique is particularly useful in identifying congenital myasthenic syndromes with altered AChR ion channel function.