Impairment of the respiratory chain in the b-c1 region as early functional event during Fe2+/ascorbate induced peroxidation in rat liver mitochondria.

An attack at the level of the respiratory chain was established as the reason for the early inhibition of oxygen uptake during Fe2+/ascorbate induced peroxidation by following the activities of complexes I-IV separately. The close correlation between the decline of mitochondrial respiration and the activity of complex III strongly suggests that an impairment of the respiratory chain in the b-c1 region represents one of the first functional events in the causal sequence of peroxidative reactions preceding the phase of massive malondialdehyde production.