Functional derangement of liver mitochondria from hexachlorobenzene-treated rats.

This study investigated impairment of oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria isolated from the liver of hexachlorobenzene (HCB)-treated rats. Partial and reversible uncoupling of the phosphorylative process was found in liver mitochondria from rats dosed with HCB for 60 days. Pentachlorophenol, endogenously formed by HCB metabolism, was detected in the mitochondria at a concentration of 0.3-0.4 nmol/mg protein. Based on the effect of pentachlorophenol, added in vitro at a concentration similar to that found in vivo, it was concluded that the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation under these experimental conditions was almost completely due to the presence of pentachlorophenol.