Enhanced oxygen consumption in adrenal medulla on stimulation with acetylcholine

When perfused cortex-free ox adrenal medulla was stimulated to secrete catecholamine by infusion of 0.1 mM acetylcholine for 4 min, the oxygen consumption increased to a value which was 0.15 +/- 0.07 mumole O2/min/g wet weight (+/- S.D., N = 12) above the pre-stimulation value of 0.49 +/- 0.15 (P less than 0.001). 1.4 +/- 0.9 (+/- S.D., N = 12) mole of catecholamine was secreted per mole of enhanced O2 consumption in the 16 min following the start of the stimulation. The rate of ATP hydrolysis by the proton-translocating Mg-ATPase of the chromaffin granule may increase on fusing with the plasma membrane of the chromaffin cell during exocytosis. However, from the amount of catecholamine secreted, this was estimated to account for less than 17% of the oxygen consumption increase. The amount of catecholamine secreted by 4 min 0.1 mM acetylcholine stimulations correlated with the enhancement of oxygen consumption (r = 0.82, P less than 0.001) but, on stimulation with 60 microM veratridine for 4 min, O2 consumption enhancement was anomalously low. This dependence on mode of stimulation suggests that ATP consumption in exocytosis itself is an inadequate explanation. Ouabain-sensitive oxygen consumption rose from undetectable levels to 18 +/- 8% (+/- S.D., N = 4) of the basal respiration during prolonged 0.1 mM acetylcholine stimulation in the absence of Ca, indicating that Na,K-ATPase was not responsible for all of the oxygen consumption enhancement.