Abstract
Alterations in the tumor adenine nucleotide pattern (TANP) have been measured at various times in a solid murine tumor undergoing haemorrhagic necrosis in vivo as a consequence of endotoxin administration. The ATP level fell rapidly in the first few hours; the AMP content initially rose, but began to fall back at 4 h. Overall adenine nucleotide losses occurred promptly, with only 4% of the original amount remaining at 24 h. Levels of glucose, glucose 6-phosphate, pyruvate, and lactate were also measured, and, with the exception of lactate, were for the most part lower in tumors from endotoxin-treated animals. Only minor alterations in the adenine nucleotide pattern were seen after either 4 or 24 h in the livers of normal or tumor-bearing mice in response to endotoxon injection, even when the creatures were moribund. The changes reported in the tumor are believed to have arisen not as a result of capillary stasis, but from prompt and selective disturbances to mitochondrial function in the tumor which have been described previously (Jones, 1977b, 1979).