Schweiger H, Lütjen-Drecoll E, Arnold E, Koch W, Nitsche R, Brand K
Department of Surgery, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Federal Republic of Germany.
Biochem Med Metab Biol. 1988 Oct;40(2):162-85. doi: 10.1016/0885-4505(88)90117-x.
Young and senescent rats (3 and 28-30 months old) were subjected to complete ischemia at 37 degrees C in order to study function and structure of mitochondria isolated from liver, heart muscle, and brain. The rates of energy-coupled respiration and ATP synthesis were found to decrease progressively in relation to time of ischemia. The respiratory rates in the absence of ADP (state 4 respiration) did not increase after exposure to ischemia, suggesting that ischemia primarily affects electron transport rather than the energy coupling system. Mitochondria of heart muscle were more affected by ischemia than mitochondria of brain and liver. Liver and heart muscle mitochondria obtained from young rats were found to be slightly more sensitive to short periods of ischemia than those isolated from senescent animals.
