Mathematical theory of the possible role of intercellular fluid and of vascularization on physiological periodicities.

Abstract

In continuation of previous work (Rashevsky,Some Medical Aspects of Mathematical Biology, Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1964, Chap. 23 and Appendix 14), the study of the effects of the physical parameters of the cells of endocrine glands on the onset of sustained periodical oscillations in the interaction between the anterior pituitary and the thyroid hormones is generalized to include the possible effect of the intercellular fluid and of the degree of vascularization. Some conclusions of the previous study remain valid although some modifications must be made. A decreased relative volume of the intercellular fluid and an increased vascularization favor the conditions for sustained oscillations. The permeability of the cells and the permeability of the capillaries appear explicitly in the expressions which show the conditions for sustained periodicities.