Increased Na+/K(+)-pump activity and adenosine triphosphate utilization after compound 48/80-induced histamine secretion from rat mast cells.

The Na+/K(+)-pump activity and the utilization of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were studied in rat peritoneal mast cells after histamine secretion induced by compound 48/80. We measured the ouabain-sensitive K(+)-uptake by a radioactive technique (86Rb+). The ATP content and the glycolytic ATP-production were measured by the bioluminescence technique (firefly lantern) and by measurement of the lactate production under anaerobic conditions (antimycin A, oligomycin), respectively. There was an increased requirement for ATP after the secretory response associated with an increased activity of the Na+/K(+)-pump. The anaerobic, but not the aerobic, pathway for ATP-synthesis was able to respond to the increased ATP-requirement. The ATP-requirement of the Na+/K(+)-pump was only partly satisfied when ATP was supplied from either the glycolytic or the oxidative pathway. This may indicate that the availability of ATP was the limiting factor for the activity of the Na+/K(+)-pump following histamine secretion under these conditions. It is concluded that the large increase in Na+/K(+)-pump activity after a secretory response is a likely explanation for the long lasting ATP-decrease in mast cells that follows histamine secretion.