Energy metabolism of brain homogenates from mice infected with GD VII virus

Respiration and phosphorylation were measured in brain homogenates from mice that had been infected with Theiler's GD VII virus. All of the expected respiratory carriers were present in the brain preparations; the mitochondrial fraction was 0.18 μM in cytochrome a + a 3 and about the same for the other respiratory carriers. There was 20 times as much pyridine nucleotide as a + a 3. No alteration in the ADP O ratio was detected following virus infection. The oxidation of succinate was inhibited by 40–45% in virus-infected preparations while oxidation of the NAD + linked substrate, α-ketoglutarate, was elevated. β-Hydroxybutyrate oxidation was unchanged. The change in succinate oxidation occurred during the first few hours of infection and coincided with virus production.