Effect of aflatoxin B in vitro on rat liver mitochondrial respiratory functions.

Isolated rat liver mitochondria were incubated with various concentrations of aflatoxin B (AFB) for different periods of time. Respiration rates were then measured with two substrates (succinate and glutamate). State 3 respiration rate (with added ADP) declined with increase in preincubation concentrations of AFB1 (0.15-0.50 mM). On the other hand, state 4 respiration rate (after depletion of added ADP) was found to increase with increased pretreatment concentration of AFB. As a consequence, respiratory control index was reduced attaining minimum value with 0.25 mM AFB and preincubation time of 10 min. The induced anomaly in mitochondrial respiratory functions appear to be due to membrane damage caused by interaction of reactive AFB1 metabolite generated by mitochondrial cytochrome P-450 enzymes with mitochondrial components.