Adenosine triphosphate levels during anaphylactic histamine release in rat mast cells in vitro. Effects of glycolytic and respiratory inhibitors.

The adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content of rat mast cells was studied during and after anaphylactic histamine release. The almost identical time course of ATP decrease from mast cells treated with either glycolytic or respiratory inhibitors supports the view that the ATP depletion was largely related to the histamine release process and not to an uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation by an increased concentration of cytosol Ca2+. The ATP content of the cells was not restored within the 2 h of observation. No inhibition of lactate production from mast cells exposed to antigen in the presence of respiratory inhibitors and glucose was observed. Based on the lactate production from mast cells, the turnover time of ATP was calculated to be about 3/4 min.