EFFECT OF COBALT IONS ON MYOCARDIAL METABOLISM

Abstract

Cobalt treatment (4 mg/kg intraperitoneally for 8 days) significantly depressed the oxygen uptake of rat heart mitochondria incubated in pyruvate, octanoate, and stearate media. Cobalt treatment did not, however, affect oxygen uptake in cardiac mitochondria prepared from thiamine-deficient rats. The addition of α-lipoic acid to the in vitro system greatly enhanced the ability of mitochondria from cobalt-treated rats to metabolize pyruvate. Cobalt treatment in vivo did not appear to exert any inhibitory effect on myocardial succinic dehydrogenase activity.