Catecholamines: important factors in the increase of oxidative phosphorylation coupling in rat-liver mitochondria during the early phase of burn injury.

Thirty minutes after Sprague-Dawley rats had been injected subcutaneously with epinephrine or norepinephrine, the respiratory control ratio (RCR), the rate of O2 consumption in state 3 and the rate of ATP formation in liver mitochondria succinate respiratory chain were increased. The rate of O2 consumption in state 4 was increased or only slightly increased. When the rats were injected with the adrenergic blocking agents, timolol or phenoxybenzamine, 1 h before the burn, the activities of the succinate respiratory chain was partly inhibited 30 min postburn. Compared with our previous results, it can be suggested that catecholamines may play an important role in the increase of oxidative phosphorylation coupling in the early phase of burn injury.