[Action of 2-pyrrolidone acetamide (piracctam) on the electron transfer respiratory chain in rat liver mitochondria].

Repeated administration of 2-pyrrolidone acetamide (pyracetam; a structural analogue of GABA) at a dose of 100 mg/kg led to considerable alteration in systems of oxidative phosphorylation in liver mitochondria of intact rats. These alterations consisted in a decrease in the value of respiratory control when glutamate and malate were used as substrates, an increase in the rate of exogenous NADH oxidation in the amytal-antimycin A resistenant pathway and reduction in concentrations of cytochromes c, c1 and a. These effects were not observed in castrated rats. The effect of pyracetam on respiratory chain of liver mitochondria appears to be realized via regulation of sexual glands functions.