Dynamic characteristics of a metabolic reaction of mice with different responses to irradiation

The course of the reaction of mice placed in a metabolic chamber and afterwards irradiated with an exposure dose of 610 R was studied by assessing total oxygen consumption and the size of its fluctuation. Fluctuation was greater in non-survivors than in survivors in the initial phase of the metabolic reaction only (P is less than 0.05), while the mean oxygen consumption values for the two groups were the same, In the distribution of the individual values there were more non-survivors in the frequency class with a high fluctuation level and, conversely, more survivors in the low level class (P is less than 0.01). Fluctuation during the studied reaction was more variable in survivors, despite its lower level, than in non-survivors. The reciprocal relationship between the size and fluctuation of oxygen consumption, determined for the whole series of experimental mice at given stages of the metabolic reaction, is linear. Attention is drawn to the association between changes measured in the metabolic rate and motor activity and to the possibility that it is determined by the individual's type of nervous activity.