Key result
Anaerobic ATP production maintains ~50% efficiency matching aerobic pathways in the working turtle heart.
Why the study?
The relationship between aerobic and anaerobic energy consumption and mechanical efficiency in turtle heart muscle was not fully characterized.
Population
75 isolated perfused hearts from turtles (Pseudemys scripta)
Comparison
Aerobic work vs anaerobic work under anoxia (pO2 < 2 mm Hg)
Design
Preclinical experimental study
Authors
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Turtle heart data warrant no clinical translation; leaves open whether metabolic independence extends to mammalian models.
The efficiency of the working turtle heart is independent of the metabolic pathways leading to ATP production.
Robert B. Reeves (1963) studied this question. Anaerobic work (anoxia, pO2 < 2 mm Hg) vs. Aerobic work was evaluated on Efficiency of the heart (mechanical work divided by free energy consumed). The efficiency of the working turtle heart was independent of the metabolic pathways leading to ATP production, calculated at 50 ± 3.4%.
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