Absence of mitochondrial enhancement in the remnant liver after partial hepatectomy in cirrhotic rats

Abstract

Changes in energy metabolism after 70% partial hepatectomy were investigated in normal and carbon-tetrachloride-(CCl4)-induced-cirrhotic rats by evaluating hepatic mitochondrial ATP synthesizing activity as well as liver tissue levels of adenine nucleotides and lipid peroxide. Preoperative concentrations of ATP and total adenine nucleotides (TAN: ATP + ADP + AMP) in mumol/g dry weight (dw) and the energy charge potential (ECP) in the cirrhotic livers were 8.53 SEM 0.25, 14.73 SEM 0.54, and 0.74 SEM 0.01, respectively, and were significantly lower than those of normal livers (12.04 SEM 0.34, 15.75 SEM 0.12, and 0.86 SEM 0.01, P less than 0.01 in TAN). There was no difference in the preoperative mitochondrial phosphorylation rate (PR = x 10(-10) mol ATP/sec per mg mitochondrial protein) between normal and cirrhotic livers (21.01 SEM 0.95 and 21.55 SEM 1.03, respectively). After hepatectomy, in the normal livers these values decreased slightly after 12 h, remained low until 48 h, and returned to the preoperative value at 72 h. PR was remarkably enhanced and reached the maximum level of 32.54 SEM 2.07 at 24 h (P less than 0.001, compared to the sham-operated rats) and gradually returned to the preoperative value at 72 h. In the cirrhotic livers, ATP and ECP levels were drastically decreased at 12 h and recovered to the preoperative levels within 24 h, while TAN level remained unchanged. Enhancement of PR was not observed in any of the cirrhotic livers during the experiment. Lipid peroxidation was transiently increased postoperatively with no difference between normal and cirrhotic livers both in the sham-operated and the hepatectomized rats. These findings suggest that the energy status was more depressed in the cirrhotic livers than in normal livers both before and after hepatectomy. This depressed energy status might be attributed to the low preoperative tissue levels of adenine nucleotides and ECP level in the cirrhotic livers as well as to the absence of the enhancement of PR in the remnant livers.