Effects of breathing an O2-H2 (20%-80%) mixture on the energy metabolism of the eel at 1 ATA.
The hypothesis of a specific effect of hydrogen on living organisms was investigated. Three tissues were studied: brain, muscle, and liver. Nucleotide concentrations (ATP, ADP, AMP, IMP, NAD) were determined using an HPLC method, and energy charge (EC) was calculated. These measurements were performed at atmospheric pressure for 50 or 132 h. Experiments were carried out using 15 control eels that breathed aerated water and 15 eels that breathed water saturated with oxygen (20%) and hydrogen (80%). No significant variation was found of the measured concentrations in muscle or liver, irrespective of the exposure duration to H2. In contrast, hydrogen induced in brain tissue a significant increase of AMP (p less than 0.005) and significant decreases of ATP (p less than 0.005) and EC (p less than 0.001). It should be noted that the EC decrease is already significant (p less than 0.05) after 50 h of exposure to H2. These modifications in energetic nucleotides were coupled with a small decrease of NAD (NS) in the three tissues explored. From the present results, obtained from eels at atmospheric pressure, it appeared that hydrogen could induce a perturbation of energy metabolism at the brain level. Its origin could be a partial saturation of respiratory chain carriers with exogen H2.
Sebert
P
P
Laboratoire de Physiologie, Faculté de Médecine, Brest, France.
Barthelemy
L
L
Caroff
J
J
Cann-Moisan
C
C
D000249:Adenosine Monophosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004524:Eels / Q000378:metabolism*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects*; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism
D000249:Adenosine Monophosphate; D006859:Hydrogen; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate