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Clomipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant used to treat depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, has been linked to a few cases of acute hepatotoxicity. It is also recognized as a compound that hinders the functioning of mitochondria. Hence, the effects of clomipramine on mitochondria should endanger processes that are somewhat connected to energy metabolism in the liver. For this reason, the primary aim of this study was to examine how the effects of clomipramine on mitochondrial functions manifest in the intact liver. For this purpose, we used the isolated perfused rat liver, but also isolated hepatocytes and isolated mitochondria as experimental systems. According to the findings, clomipramine harmed metabolic processes and the cellular structure of the liver, especially the membrane structure. The considerable decrease in oxygen consumption in perfused livers strongly suggested that the mechanism of clomipramine toxicity involves the disruption of mitochondrial functions. Coherently, it could be observed that clomipramine inhibited both gluconeogenesis and ureagenesis, two processes that rely on ATP production within the mitochondria. Half-maximal inhibitory concentrations for gluconeogenesis and ureagenesis ranged from 36.87 μM to 59.64 μM. The levels of ATP as well as the ATP/ADP and ATP/AMP ratios were reduced, but distinctly, between the livers of fasted and fed rats. The results obtained from experiments conducted on isolated hepatocytes and isolated mitochondria unambiguously confirmed previous propositions about the effects of clomipramine on mitochondrial functions. These findings revealed at least three distinct mechanisms of action, including uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, inhibition of the F o F 1 -ATP synthase complex, and inhibition of mitochondrial electron flow. The elevation in activity of cytosolic and mitochondrial enzymes detected in the effluent perfusate from perfused livers, coupled with the increase in aminotransferase release and trypan blue uptake observed in isolated hepatocytes, provided further evidence of the hepatotoxicity of clomipramine. It can be concluded that impaired mitochondrial bioenergetics and cellular damage are important factors underlying the hepatotoxicity of clomipramine and that taking excessive amounts of clomipramine can lead to several risks including decreased ATP production, severe hypoglycemia, and potentially fatal outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors affirm that they have no known financial or interpersonal conflicts that would have seemed to influence the research that is the subject of this publication., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Citrus flavanones are often linked to their antihyperglycemic properties. This effect may be in part due to the inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis through different mechanisms. One of the possible mechanisms appears to be impairment of oxidative phosphorylation, which may also interfere with glycogen metabolism. Based on these facts, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of three citrus flavanones on glycogenolysis in the isolated perfused rat liver. Hesperidin, hesperetin, and naringenin stimulated glycogenolysis and glycolysis from glycogen with concomitant changes in oxygen uptake. At higher concentrations (300 μM), hesperetin and naringenin clearly altered fructose and glucose metabolism, whereas hesperidin exerted little to no effects. In subcellular fractions hesperetin and naringenin inhibited the activity of glucose 6-phosphatase and glucokinase and the mitochondrial respiration linked to ADP phosphorylation. Hesperetin and naringenin also inhibited the transport of glucose into the cell. At a concentration of 300 μM, the glucose influx rate inhibition was 83% and 43% for hesperetin and naringenin, respectively. Hesperidin was the less active among the assayed citrus flavanones, indicating that the rutinoside moiety noticeably decrease the activity of these compounds. The effects on glycogenolysis and fructolysis were mainly consequence of an impairment on mitochondrial energy metabolism. The increased glucose release, due to the higher glycogenolysis, together with glucose transport inhibition is the opposite of what is expected for antihyperglycemic agents., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Fipronil is an insecticide used to control pests in animals and plants that can causes hepatotoxicity in animals and humans, and it is hepatically metabolized to fipronil sulfone by cytochrome P-450. The present study aimed to characterize the effects of fipronil (10-50μM) on energy metabolism in isolated perfused rat livers. In fed animals, there was increased glucose and lactate release from glycogen catabolism, indicating the stimulation of glycogenolysis and glycolysis. In the livers of fasted animals, fipronil inhibited glucose and urea production from exogenous l-alanine, whereas ammonia and lactate production were increased. In addition, fipronil at 50μM concentration inhibited the oxygen uptake and increased the cytosolic NADH/NAD⁺ ratio under glycolytic conditions. The metabolic alterations were found both in livers from normal or proadifen-pretreated rats revealing that fipronil and its reactive metabolites contributed for the observed activity. The effects on oxygen uptake indicated that the possible mechanism of toxicity of fipronil involves impairment on mitochondrial respiratory activity, and therefore, interference with energy metabolism. The inhibitory effects on oxygen uptake observed at the highest concentration of 50μM was abolished by pretreatment of the rats with proadifen indicating that the metabolites of fipronil, including fipronil sulfone, acted predominantly as inhibitors of respiratory chain. The hepatoxicity of both the parent compound and its reactive metabolites was corroborated by the increase in the activity of lactate dehydrogenase in the effluent perfusate in livers from normal or proadifen-pretreated rats., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.)

Estrogen deficiency accelerates the development of several disorders including visceral obesity and hepatic steatosis. The predisposing factors can be exacerbated by drugs that affect hepatic lipid metabolism. The aim of the present work was to determine if raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) used extensively by postmenopausal women, affects hepatic fatty acid oxidation pathways. Fatty acids oxidation was measured in the livers, mitochondria and peroxisomes of ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Mitochondrial and peroxisomal β-oxidation was inhibited by raloxifene at a concentration range of 2.5-25 μM. In perfused livers, raloxifene reduced the ketogenesis from endogenous and exogenous fatty acids and increased the β-hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate ratio. An increase in ¹⁴CO₂ production without a parallel increase in the oxygen consumption indicated that raloxifene caused a diversion of NADH from the mitochondrial respiratory chain to another oxidative reaction. It was found that raloxifene has a strong ability to react with H₂O₂ in the presence of peroxidase. It is likely that the generation of phenoxyl radical derivatives of raloxifene in intact livers led to the co-oxidation of NADH and a shift of the cellular redox state to an oxidised condition. This change can perturb other important liver metabolic processes dependent on cellular NADH/NAD⁺ ratio., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Monocrotaline (MCT) is a pyrrolizidine alkaloid present in the plants of the Crotalaria species that causes cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in animals and humans, and it is hepatically metabolized to the alkylating agent dehydromonocrotaline by cytochrome P-450. The exact cellular and molecular mechanisms of MCT-induced tissue injury remain unclear. We previously demonstrated that dehydromonocrotaline, but not monocrotaline, inhibits the activity of NADH-dehydrogenase at micromolar concentrations in isolated liver mitochondria, an effect associated with significantly reduced ATP synthesis. Impairment of energy metabolism is expected to lead to several alterations in cell metabolism. In this work, the action of different concentrations of monocrotaline (250, 500, and 750microM) on energy metabolism-linked parameters was investigated in isolated perfused rat livers. In the fed state, monocrotaline increased glycogenolysis and glycolysis, whereas in the livers of fasted rats, it decreased gluconeogenesis and urea synthesis from l-alanine. These metabolic alterations were only found in livers of phenobarbital-treated rats, indicating that active metabolites including dehydromonocrotaline were responsible for the observed activity. Our findings indicate that hepatic metabolic changes may be implicated, partly at least, in the hepatotoxicity of monocrotaline in animals and humans.

The action of a barbatimão extract on hepatic energy metabolism was investigated using isolated mitochondria and the perfused rat liver. In mitochondria the barbatimão extract inhibited respiration in the presence of ADP and succinate. Stimulation occurred, however, after ADP phosphorylation (state IV respiration). The ADP/O and respiratory control ratios were reduced. The activities of succinate-oxidase, NADH-oxidase and the oxidation of ascorbate were inhibited. The ATPase of intact mitochondria was stimulated, but the ATPases of uncoupled and disrupted mitochondria were inhibited. In perfused livers the extract caused stimulation of oxygen consumption, inhibition of gluconeogenesis and stimulation of glycolysis. Glucose release due to glycogenolysis was stimulated shortly after the introduction of the extract, but inhibition gradually developed as the infusion was continued. Apparently the barbatimão extract impairs the hepatic energy metabolism by three mechanisms: (1) uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, (2) inhibition of mitochondrial electron transport, and (3) inhibition of ATP-synthase.