Effect of Warfarin on ATP Content, Viability, Glycosylation and Protein Synthesis in Isolated Rat Hepatocytes

The effect of warfarin on ATP content, viability and incorporation of labelled glucosamine and leucine into protein was studied in suspensions of rat hepatocytes. When incubated with warfarin the synthesis of total protein and glycoprotein was equally inhibited, and the viability and ATP content of the cells were also lowered. These observations suggest that warfarin is not an inhibitor of glycosylation of proteins in isolated hepatocytes, however, the presence of warfarin leads to reduced ATP content of the cells which causes a decrease in protein synthesis and viability.