Respiratory activities were determined for liver mitochondria from rats with chronic alloxan and streptozotocin diabetes. Only those rats with blood glucose levels above 300 mg %, 30 days after injection of the diabetogenic substances were used. Both alloxan and streptozotocin diabetic mitochondria showed increased rates of respiration with a-oxoglutarate and L-malate + pyruvate as substrates but the P:O ratios were not altered. Administration of alloxan (200 mg/kg) to chronically diabetic rats 60 hr prior to killing did not cause further alterations in mitochondrial function which would have been indicative of direct mitochondrial poisoning by alloxan.
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Mackerer et al. (1971) studied this question.