CHANGES IN CERTAIN PHOSPHORUS AND CARBOHYDRATE CONSTITUENTS OF THE TISSUES OF RABBITS IN GRAVITY SHOCK

Abstract

Gravity shock was produced in rabbits both by suspending the animals vertically and at lower angles to the horizontal. During the period of suspension (avg. 1 hr.) hyperpnea, tachycardia, and loss of exteroception were observed and used as criteria of shock. In 11 control and 7 shocked rabbits, analyses for water, lactic acid and glycogen of gastrocnemius muscle and glycogen of liver were conducted. The respective values for control and shocked animals expressed as mg./100 g. wet tissue were, muscle lactic acid 89 and 211, muscle glycogen 534 and 285, liver glycogen 1228 and 12. Muscle water did not change significantly. The levels of inorganic and organic P fractions of gastrocnemius muscle were detd. in 11 control and 11 shocked rabbits. Expressed as mg. P/g. dry wt., the respective values for control and shocked animals were, inorganic P 1.50 and 2.66, and creatine P 2.02 and 1.00. The other fractions were not significantly altered. The data suggest that tissue hypoxia produced by suspension of the rabbit results in loss of energy-rich phosphate bonds of muscle, and in impairment of the mechanism which generates these bonds.