The Effects of Methylmercury on the Mitochondrial Energetics of Rat Skeletal Muscle : An in vivo ^<31>P-NMR Study

In this report it showed that methylmercury chrolide (MMC) affected the mitochondrial energetics of rat skeletal muscles in case of chronic intoxication. High energy phosphate compounds were measured by ^<31>P-NMR spectroscopy in the living rat hindleg skeletal muscle. Decreased value of phosphocreatine (PCr)/inorganic phosphate (Pi) ratio was observed in the resting muscle of the MMC intoxicated group, and suspend recovery of the ATP, PCr and intracellular pH after muscle contraction was found in the MMC intoxicated muscle. There was no difference in the ATP levels of the resting muscle between the control and MMC group. These results suggested that the synthesis of ATP was disturbed by the inhibition of mitochondrial respiration below TCA cycle