Combined effect of propofol and GSNO on oxidative phosphorylation of isolated rat liver mitochondria

Isolated rat liver mitochondria have been treated with the general anaesthetic propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol, 200 microM) and the physiological NO donor nitrosoglutathione (GSNO, 200 or 250 microM). The efficiency of the oxidative phosphorylation has been evaluated by measuring the respiration and ATP synthesis rates and the behavior of transmembrane electrical potential. In mitochondria energized by succinate, the simultaneous presence of both propofol and GSNO gives rise to a synergic action in affecting the resting and the ADP-stimulated respiration, the respiratory control ratio, the ATP synthesis, and the formation and utilization of the electrochemical transmembrane potential.