THE BURNING OF CARBON MONOXIDE BY HEART AND SKELETAL MUSCLE

Abstract

The effect of CO upon the gaseous metabolism of a variety of tissues was studied in rats and frogs. Marked increases of 160 and 98% were found in skeletal muscle and heart respectively, smaller increases in muscles not in good condition. Other tissues showed smaller and less constant increases (liver, Jensen rat sarcoma, spleen, nerve, testis, cord, blood) or inhibition (skin). In a second series of experiments simultaneous measurements of the amount of O2 consumed were made by direct analyses of the gas in the respirometer. The results showed that, especially in heart and skeletal muscles, the O2 consumed was not sufficient to account for the total* gas consumed. It is concluded that the increase in metabolism observed in these tissues was due to burning CO to CO2. In control experiments without CO the total gas consumed equaled the O2 consumed.