The oxygen consuming systems of the liver of mice exposed to simulated high altitude

Altitude hypoxia does not induce any changes in the enzymatic systems related to oxygen consumption in guinea pigs native of the Peruvian high altitudes. The biochemical changes frequently found in high altitude animals are the result of exposure to the low temperature of this environment rather than to hypoxia. In the present work, mice were chronically exposed to hypobaric hypoxia and maintained at equal temperature as the sea level control group, and measurements of enzymatic activities of the three major oxygen consuming systems of the liver were carried out, i.e., mitochondria, microsomes and peroxisomes. The results obtained have confirmed that hypoxia has no apparent influence on these enzymatic systems.