Increased oxygen consumption, and succin-oxidase activity of liver tissue after exposure of rats to cold.

Abstract

WHEN intact rats are exposed to a cold environment their consumption of oxygen increases greatly. Much of the increase may be accounted for by increased muscular activity, and direct evidence for this has been obtained. There is considerable evidence of an indirect nature which suggests that increased metabolism of non-muscular tissues may account for part of the increase. However, a direct demonstration of increased metabolic activity in visceral tissues has not yet been made. In an attempt to obtain such direct evidence, measurements of the oxygen consumption of liver slices, and of the succinoxidase activity of liver tissue homogenates, prepared from animals “acclimatized” to cold, were compared with those of normal rats.