The effects of peritonitis on murine renal mitochondria.

To examine the coupled respiratory functions of murine kidney mitochondria, peritonitis was created in 29 male Sprague-Dawley rats; 29 rats were paired-controls. Peritonitis was created by cecal ligation and perforation. Experimental and control animals were sacrificed at two hours (N = 12), four hours (N = 8), and 6 hours (N = 9), mitochondria were isolated, and state 3, state 4, and Respiratory Control Indices (RCI) were determined. The state 3, state 4, and RCI were unchanged from control values by analysis of variance. From these data, we conclude that the defective oxygen consumptions and organ failure in sepsis is not due to a primary cellular insult to the kidney mitochondria.