Effect of ouabain on lens equatorial currents.

The equatorial potassium current measured with the vibrating probe is a segment of the potassium electrical loop. The equatorial current, J, was measured simultaneously with the PD and with the response to an injected current, I. The injection of sufficient inward current, I, made the PD more negative and increased the electrical gradient so that the current J became zero. The PD at which this occurs (PDJ-0) is the reversal potential. Following treatment with ouabain, the PD and PDJ-0 both become less negative. Since the driving force for the current, J, is equal to the difference between PD and PDJ-0, J may increase, stay the same or decrease depending on the relative changes in PD and PDJ-0. In the presence of ouabain, the PDJ-0 changes in parallel with or more rapidly than the PD.