Acidosis slows the response of oxidative phosphorylation to metabolic demand in isolated rabbit heart

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of acidosis on the mean response time of mitochondrial oxygen consumption to steps in heart rate and in left ventricular balloon volume. The mean response time may be viewed as the average delay between a change in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis and oxygen consumption. The mean response time is calculated by subtracting the transport time, required for diffusion of oxygen and for convective transport through the coronary vessels, from the response time measured in the coronary venous effluent. Eight isolated rabbit hearts were perfused according to Langendorff using Tyrode solution at 28 degrees C. Arterial perfusate pH was lowered from 7.30 +/- 0.03 (mean +/- SD) to 6.59 +/- 0.02 by increasing the CO2 tension. At pH 7.3 the mean response time was 12.6 +/- 1.6 s, independent of the time after isolation of the heart. During acidosis, applied 40-75 min after isolation of the heart, the mean response time was 21.4 +/- 0.7 s and increased to 32.6 +/- 4.3 s during acidosis, 85-120 min after isolation. Thus the retardation of the metabolic response by acidosis might depend on the condition of the heart. A decrease of mitochondrial ATP synthetic capacity during acidosis may contribute to the retardation of the metabolic response. Since determination of the mean response time at 37 degrees C is not yet feasible, the experiments were done at 28 degrees C. Extrapolation of our findings to 37 degrees C appears premature.