Mitochondrial cytochemistry in experimental myopathies.

In this paper, we have described mitochondrial cytochemistry (NADH oxidase, cytochrome c oxidase), in the light and electron microscopic studies of the experimental mitochondrial myopathies. DNP, oleate and crotoxin were employed to produce mitochondrial changes in the rat skeletal muscle. The DNP and oleic acid lesions showed strong NADH oxidase and cytochrome c oxidase activities in mitochondria--both at the light microscopic as well as at ultrastructural level. However, the crotoxin lesions showed marked reduction of both the enzyme activities in histochemistry and electron microscopy. Muscle necrosis was seen only in the crotoxin lesion. On the basis of these data, we propose that DNP and oleic acid treatment produced mitochondrial myopathies in which the mitochondrial structure was altered but they were enzymatically active, while the crotoxin treatment produced the structural and enzymatic alterations of the mitochondria.