Evidence For Electroporation Mediated Cellular Injury In Vivo

Previous in vitro experiments in our laboratory have demonstrated the formation of permanent pores in skeletal muscle cells following exposure to electric fields. We used a rat island muscle flap to study post-shock membrane impedance, and an intact rat hind limb flexor muscle for post-shock pathological studies. Muscle membrane impedance, a measure of membrane integrity, fell to 50% of initial values following a series of 60 150 V/cm direct current pulses of four milliseconds in duration. Histological preparations of the flexor muscle showed significant damage to the muscle architecture following 5 seconds of exposure to a 60 V/cm laternating current electric field. No significant change in temperature was seen in either set of experiments.