Intravenous adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in hemorrhagic shock in rats

The effect of intravenous (iv) infusion of 6.25 mumol of ATP-MgCl2 on survival and tissue ATP levels in hemorrhagic shock was investigated using a rat model. Mortality in ATP-MgCl2-treated shocked rats was 50% compared with 53% in saline-treated controls. Tissue ATP levels in ATP-MgCl2-treated shocked rats did not differ from those in saline-treated shocked rats nor from those in sham-operated controls. After iv infusion of 6.25 mumol of [8-14C]ATP-MgCl2, shocked, sham-operated, and nephrectomized rats had similar tissue distributions of 14C. The 14C in heart, lung, kidney, and liver of shocked and sham-operated rats was present almost entirely as nonphosphorylated [8-14C]ATP catabolites. It is concluded that ATP-MgCl2 iv did not benefit survival or enhance tissue ATP levels in shocked animals and that the administered ATP was rapidly and extensively degraded.