Abstract
The effects of xenon, argon, and hydrogen on the aerobic and anaerobic metabolism of mouse liver, brain, and sarcoma slices have been investigated. Xenon was found to alter the rates of metabolism of these tissues in a manner almost identical with helium. The gas increased the rate of oxygen consumption in all three tissues and significantly depressed that of anaerobic glycolysis in brain and liver. The depression of glycolysis in sarcoma was less pronounced and not highly significant. Although both the magnitude and statistical significance of the effects observed with argon were much smaller, there was a seeming adherence to the general pattern established by xenon and helium. Hydrogen while remaining essentially ineffective insofar as oxygen uptake was concerned, depressed glycolysis in both liver and brain slices but did not significantly affect sarcoma slices. The following points are stressed in the Discussion: (1) the magnitude and direction of effects exerted by helium, argon, xenon, hydrogen, and nitrogen do not conform with the relative values of molecular weight, density, and solubility of these gases; (2) the effect of these gases on tissue metabolism does not necessarily parallel that exerted upon the whole organism.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (447.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- COOK S. F., SOUTH F. E., Jr Helium and comparative in vitro metabolism of mousetissue slices. Am J Physiol. 1953 Jun;173(3):542–544. doi: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1953.173.3.542. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- COOK S. F., SOUTH F. E., Jr, YOUNG D. R. Effect of helium on gas exchange of mice. Am J Physiol. 1951 Jan;164(1):248–250. doi: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1950.164.1.248. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- CULLEN S. C., GROSS E. G. The anesthetic properties of xenon in animals and human beings, with additional observations on krypton. Science. 1951 May 18;113(2942):580–582. doi: 10.1126/science.113.2942.580. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lawrence J. H., Loomis W. F., Tobias C. A., Turpin F. H. Preliminary observations on the narcotic effect of xenon with a review of values for solubilities of gases in water and oils. J Physiol. 1946 Dec 6;105(3):197–204. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SOUTH F. E., Jr, COOK S. F. Effect of helium on the respiration and glycolysis of mouse liver slices. J Gen Physiol. 1953 Mar;36(4):513–528. doi: 10.1085/jgp.36.4.513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]