Effect of peritonitis on oxygen consumption by various tissues and peritoneal fluid cells

Oxygen consumption by various tissues and peritoneal fluid cells was investigated in silica-induced adhesion disease and fecal peritonitis in rats. Intraperitoneally injected colloidal silica produced chemical peritonitis with a typical acute inflammatory reaction of peritoneal fluid cells showing marked phagocytosis by macrophages. The quantity of cells in the peritoneal fluid as indicated by the content of DNA achieved its maximum within 2-4 days. At the peritoneal surface, abundant proliferative reaction occurred already 2-3 days after silica injection, followed later by aggregation of collagen fibres and finally by peritoneal hyalinization. Oxygen utilization by various tissues--such as liver, kidney, heart, skeletal muscle, lung, spleen and intestine--increased by 20-80% above normal during the first 2 days after silica injection and returned to the original level within the following 5 days. In comparison, fecal peritonitis resulting in death of the animals within 12-36 hours caused a transient fall in tissue oxygen consumption at 12 hours. In the peritoneal fluid of rats injected with silica, oxygen utilization per DNA decreased by more than 50% from the original level during the first 24 hours and remained approximately 20% below normal thereafter. It is concluded that at the early phase of silica-induced peritonitis, oxygen consumption increases both locally in the abdomen and in distant tissues.