Abstract
Concentrations of adenine nucleotides in rat brain and liver have been determined spectrofluorometrically by the coupled enzymatic reactions and the value of energy charge ([ATP]+0.5[ADP]/[ATP]+[ADP]+[AMP]) has been calculatated. The value of energy charge of normal rat brain and liver was 0.89 and 0.85, respectively.
When rat was inhaled with 100% nitrogen gas, the value of energy charge of the brain decreased rapidly to 0.48 at 2 min after the inhalation. This was due to a rapid decrease in ATP concentration in the brain and a concomitant increase in AMP concentration. On the other hand, that of the liver was reduced slowly to 0.69 at 2 min under the same conditions.
The results indicate clearly a higher affinity of the brain tissue to oxygen than the liver.
