[Effect of thallium on enzyme activity and unidirectional sodium transport in frog skin]

The cytophotometric analysis of enzyme activity in the frog skin epithelium has shown that Tl+ accumulated by cells at millimolar concentrations causes a 70-80% inhibition of both succinate and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenases, while the activity of Na, K-ATPase decreased only slightly. The opposite situation was true for the ouabain treatment. The accumulation of Tl+ by frog skin caused a substantial swelling of mitochondria. It is suggested that the earlier observed inhibition of the unidirectional Na+ transport by Tl+ might be resulted from a blocking of oxidative metabolism. The same cells poisoned by Tl+ were able to maintain their ion composition presumably at the expense of glycolysis.