RESUMO
The effect of fasting and anoxia on the intracellular concentration of ATP, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and H+ was studied in isolated perfused rat hepatocytes. ATP and intracellular Mg2+ were measured by 31P-NMR spectroscopy, cytosolic free calcium was measured with aequorin, intracellular Na+ with SBFI, intracellular pH with BCECF, lactic dehydrogenase by NADH absorbance. In hepatocytes from fasted rats, intracellular ATP was depressed 52% (P < 0.001), Nai+ was increased 70% from 16.9 to 27.7 mM (P < 0.02), and Cai2+ was increased 79% from 137 to 245 nM (P < 0.05) when compared to fed rats. Mgi2+ and pHi were unchanged. During anoxia, ATP and the cell phosphorylation potential decreased 90% to practically the same low levels in both fed and fasted groups. On the other hand, in hepatocytes from fasted animals, Cai2+ increased faster and to significantly higher levels than in hepatocytes from fed rats: Cai2+ reached 2.19 microM in 10 min compared to 1.45 microM in 1 h, respectively (P < 0.05). Cell injury assessed by LDH release and trypan blue exclusion also occurred earlier and was more severe in hepatocytes from fasted rats. Fructose and Ca(2+)-free perfusion reduced the rise in Cai2+, abolished LDH release and significantly improved the cell viability measured by Trypan blue exclusion. The data demonstrate that fasting decreases the hepatocytes energy potential and increases Nai+ and Cai2+ which are inversely related to the cell energy potential. Consequently, in hepatocytes isolated from fasted rats, the increase in Cai2+ and the resulting cell injury evoked by anoxia occur earlier and are more severe than in fed rats. These results suggest that Ca2+ plays a crucial role in the development of anoxic cell injury.
Assuntos
Trifosfato de Adenosina/metabolismo , Cálcio/metabolismo , Hipóxia Celular , Jejum , Trifosfato de Adenosina/análise , Animais , Células Cultivadas , Concentração de Íons de Hidrogênio , L-Lactato Desidrogenase/análise , Magnésio/análise , Masculino , Ratos , Ratos Sprague-Dawley , Sódio/análise , Azul TripanoRESUMO
A system consisting of isolated rat hepatocytes immobilized in agarose threads continuously perifused with oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit (KH) solution has been found to maintain cell viability with excellent metabolic activity for more than 6 h. The hepatocytes were monitored by phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (31P-NMR) spectroscopy at 4.7 Tesla, by measurement of oxygen consumption and by the leakage of lactate dehydrogenase (LD) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The data obtained were comparable to those found for an isolated perfused whole liver in vitro. The effects of allyl alcohol (AA), ethanol, and 4-acetaminophenol (AP) were examined. A solution of 225 microM AA perifused for 90 min caused the disappearance of the beta-phosphate resonance of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the 31P-NMR spectra, a 7-fold increase in LD leakage and a 70% reduction in oxygen consumption. Ethanol (1.0 M) perifused for 90 min reduced the beta-ATP signal intensity ratio by 20%, the phosphomonoester (PME) signal by 50% and inorganic phosphate (Pi) by 33% (P less than 0.05). AP (10 mM) caused only mild liver-cell damage. The results demonstrate that perifused immobilized hepatocytes can be used as a liver model to assess the effects of a wide range of chemicals and other xenobiotics by NMR spectroscopy.