title: Calcium content in liver and heart and its intracellular distribution in liver during endotoxicosis and sepsis in rats.
abstract: The hypothesis was tested that several metabolic and functional alterations associated with endotoxicosis and sepsis could be due to a Ca overload of liver and heart in rats. Male rats were given intravenously E. coli endotoxin (ET) or rendered septic by cecal ligation and puncture. At various intervals after ET injection and 16-18 h after the onset of peritonitis the animals were sacrificed and the liver and heart sampled for assay of the total Ca content. Also, livers of saline- or ET-treated rats were perfused in vitro to study several aspects of Ca movements as affected by phenylephrine infusion. Livers, were also fractionated to study the subcellular distribution of Ca. ET treatment produced a slight, but significant increase in total hepatic Ca content (12.6% at 4 h and 7.7% at 24 h after ET injection). Sepsis did not affect this parameter in either liver or heart. ET also produced a decrease of Ca content in the microsomal fraction of liver, while sepsis was associated with an elevated Ca content of liver mitochondria. Perfused livers of saline-treated rats responded to phenylephrine by accumulating Ca, while the perfused organs of ET-treated rats did not display such a response to agonist infusion. We conclude that impairment of intracellular Ca homeostasis--under the conditions studied--consists of a slight Ca overload in endotoxicosis, associated with discrete alterations of Ca fluxes and compartmentalization within the cell both in endotoxicosis and sepsis.
authors.affiliation: Louisiana State University Medical Center Department of Physiology New Orleans 70112.
authors.forename: I V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Deaciuc
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Spitzer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004926:Escherichia coli; D007239:Infections / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D009553:Nimodipine / Q000494:pharmacology; D010477:Perfusion; D051381:Rats; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004731:Endotoxins; D009553:Nimodipine; D002118:Calcium