Changes in cytoplasmic and mitochondrial enzymes in rat liver after ischemia followed by reperfusion

The behavior of cytoplasmic and mitochondrial enzymes has been studied in rat liver at 1, 5, and 24 hr after 60 min of ischemia using histochemical methods. This period of ischemia resulted 24 h after ischemia in liver cell necrosis in about 15% of the volume of the ischemic liver lobes. As early as after 1 hr reperfusion lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, cytoplasm) activity decreased in a certain proportion of the liver parenchymal cells, whereas glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH, mitochondrial matrix) activity started to decrease after 5 hr reperfusion; the activities of mitochondrial membrane enzymes, monoamine oxidase and succinate dehydrogenase, did not decrease before 24 hr of reperfusion. It has been concluded that the early decrease in LDH activity is caused by leakage into the blood and reflects reversible damage; when this decrease is accompanied by a decrease in GDH activity irreversible liver cell damage is assumed. Diminished activity of mitochondrial membrane enzymes, due to leakage and denaturation, is observed when real necrosis can be assessed.