Ambient temperature of hypoxia: a differential study of liver catalase and cytochrome oxidase in guinea pig.

The activities of liver catalase and cytochrome oxidase have been determined in sea-level and high-altitude native guinea pigs exposed to different ambient temperatures. The activities of both of these enzymatic systems have been found to increase as ambient temperature is reduced, and this occurs in the sea-level and the high-altitude animals. At equal temperatures, cytochrome oxidase activity is identical in the liver of guinea pigs from sea-level and high-altitude. Catalase activity is approximately 50% lower in the high-altitude animals than in the sea-level ones maintained at the same ambient temperature. It is necessary to reassess current data on hypoxia-induced enzymatic and hormonal changes measured under conditions where the ambient temperature was not controlled, especially in those cases involving volunteer human subjects.