Effect of Ca2+-homopantothenate and mild hypoxia on some enzyme activities evaluated in subcellular fractions from different rat brain regions

The effect of Ca2+-homopantothenate (HOPA) treatment (250 mg/kg for 5 d) has been studied by evaluating the specific activity of enzymes related to: glycolytic pathway (hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, lactate dehydrogenase), tricarboxylic acid cycle (citrate synthase, malate dehydrogenase), mitochondrial electron transfer chain (succinate dehydrogenase, cytochrome oxidase), NADH redox state (NADH cytochrome c reductase), acetylcholine metabolism (acetylcholinesterase), and glutamate metabolism (glutamate dehydrogenase). The enzymatic activity assays were performed on homogenate in toto, nonsynaptic mitochondria and synaptosomes isolated from: cerebral cortex, hippocampus, striatum, hypothalamus, medulla oblongata, and cerebellum of normoxic rats and rats submitted to intermittent normobaric hypoxia (90:10, N2:O2). In normoxic rats, HOPA was unable to induce any modification. Hypoxia per se induced a decrease in the activity of synaptosomal cytochrome oxidase in cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellu