[On drug metabolisation by mitochondria of rat liver (author's transl)].

Highly purified rat liver mitochondria, in spite of the permeability barrier of the mitochondrial membrane, are able to oxidise tertiary amines to amine oxides, to reduce N-oxides of tertiary amines and to oxidise substituted primary alcohols to the corresponding acids via instable aldehydes. This new information on the role of mitochondria in the metabolism of drugs was obtained with the aid of previous results on the biotransformation of the local anaesthetic fomocaine.