Effect of Iodoacetic Acid on Oxygen Consumption and Survival of Newborn Mice

¹ From the Division of Anatomy, Medical Units Division, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee

When newborn mice are given injections of iodoacetic acid (IAA), it is found that doses of 10 mg/kg have little effect upon oxygen consumption. Doses of 60 mg/kg block all oxygen uptake within 1 hour. The animals given 10 mg/kg will survive, in air, for nearly 24 hours, while those given 60 mg/kg all die within 1 hour. If exposed to nitrogen after the injection, animals given 10 mg/kg survive as well as uninjected mice, while those given 50–60 mg/kg show the rapid death (within 3 min.) that has been reported by others. Calculations, based on probable oxygen content of the blood and other tissues of the newborn mouse, and on the minimum rate of oxygen utilization which will permit survival, show that the oxygen stores within the animal are sufficient to maintain the minimal rate of metabolism for extended periods in the absence of an external source of oxygen. Failure of the mice to survive exposure to nitrogen after IAA injection appears to depend on blocking the use of these oxygen stores as well as blocking glycolysis.