O2 uptake in periportal and pericentral regions of liver lobule in perfused liver.

O2 uptake by the perfused liver decreased at O2 concentrations considerably higher than levels that caused NADH reduction when the input O2 concentration was varied. The maximal rate of O2 uptake was two- to threefold higher in periportal (137 +/- 8 mumol . g-1 . h-1; O2 concentration = 478 +/- 37 microM) than pericentral regions (59 +/- 5 mumol . g-1 . h-1; O2 concentration = 263 +/- 21 microM); however, the O2 concentration required for half-maximal O2 uptake was similar (approximately 20 microM) in the two areas. The infusion of atractyloside, antimycin A, or KCN inhibited O2 uptake in both zones by 50-85%, indicating that O2 uptake in both regions was largely dependent on mitochondrial electron transport. The content of ATP and ADP and ATP:ADP were similar in microdissected samples from periportal and pericentral areas. In contrast, when livers were perfused in the retrograde direction, O2 uptake was two- to threefold greater in pericentral than in periportal regions. Maximal rates of O2 uptake correlated with the local O2 concentration irrespective of the direction of flow when the electrode was moved across the liver lobule with a micromanipulator. Lower rates of O2 uptake in pericentral areas were not altered appreciably by infusion of agents known to uncouple oxidative phosphorylation (DNP), increase ADP supply (fructose), or increase the NADH redox state (ethanol or octanoate). These data are consistent with the hypothesis that maximal rates of O2 uptake are regulated, in part, in the perfused liver by O2 concentrations far above the Km of cytochrome oxidase for O2.