BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON TOFRANIL

Abstract

Tofranil inhibits the respiratory activity of rat brain cortex slices incubated in a glucose-containing medium. It also inhibits the uptake and incorporation of glycine-1-C 14 at concentrations which have only a slight inhibitory effect on the respiration of slices. Tofranil also inhibits oxidative phosphorylation in both rat liver and rat brain mitochondria but at higher concentrations respiration is greatly affected. Tofranil differs quantitatively from chlorpromazine in its greater inhibitory effect on the ATP–P i 32 exchange reaction and its lesser effect on the cytochrome c oxidase activity of rat liver mitochondria.