Alterations of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in rabbit urinary bladder after partial outlet obstruction

Previous studies demonstrated that one of the most significant cellular responses of the rabbit urinary bladder to partial outlet obstruction is a 50% decrease in the activities of the mitochondrial enzymes citrate synthase and malate dehydrogenase, when calculated as either activity per unit mass or activity per mg protein. A major question arose from these studies: Are the mitochondrial enzyme activities per mitochondrion reduced, or is the number of mitochondria per unit tissue mass reduced? The current experiments were designed to study the sequential changes in the activities of mitochondrial oxidative enzymes following partial outlet obstruction. The activities of NADH-cytochrome c reductase (NCCR), cytochrome oxidase (CO), citrate synthase (CS) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) were measured in whole tissue homogenates and in mitochondrial preparations of separated bladder mucosa and muscle, from normal bladders, and, from hypertrophied bladders at 1, 3, and 7 days following partial outlet obstruction. The results can be summarized as follows: 1) Whole tissue homogenates: Activities of all enzymes were reduced to approximately 50% of control at 1 day following partial outlet obstruction. NCCR and CO activities returned to 75 and 85% of control respectively by 7 days post-obstruction; CS activity did not show any significant recovery over the 7 day period. 2) Mucosal and smooth muscle mitochondrial preparations: Activities of all enzymes were decreased significantly by 50% or greater at 1 day following partial outlet obstruction. The cytochrome (NCCR and CO) enzyme activities returned to control levels by 7 days post-obstruction; CS activity showed only a minor recovery over this time period. These results show that mitochondrial enzyme activity is significantly impaired immediately following partial outlet outlet obstruction, and whereas the activity of the cytochrome enzymes NCCR and CO recover to control levels (in the mitochondrial preparations) within 7 days post obstruction, the Krebs cycle enzymes (CS and MD) show no significant recovery. Thus, the regulatory mechanisms for the cytochromes is significantly different from that for the enzymes of the krebs cycle.