Tricarboxylic acid cycle activity in perfused rat lungs after O2 exposure

O2-induced impairment of mitochondrial energy generation was examined in intact lungs isolated from rats after 18-30 h exposure to either air or 100% O2 in vivo. Mitochondrial metabolic rates were determined by separate measurements of 14CO2 production from [1-14C]pyruvate and [U-14C]palmitate, perfused under normal and stimulated metabolic conditions brought about by perfusion with the uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). In the absence of DNP, O2 exposure did not significantly alter 14CO2 productions from either substrate. DNP increased lung pyruvate and palmitate catabolism to CO2 twofold in air-exposed lungs but did not alter 14CO2 production in lungs isolated from O2-exposed rats. These data demonstrated an O2-induced impairment of maximal mitochondrial metabolism of both pyruvate and palmitate that could not be explained by alterations in tissue free coenzyme A or by loss of pyridine nucleotides. However, comparisons of the steady-state levels of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates between O2- and air-exposed lungs did identify isocitrate dehydrogenase as a possible site of O2-induced enzyme inactivation.