Activity of erythrocyte membrane Na,K-ATPase in rats with experimental botulism

The effect of type C botulinum toxin on Na, K, Mg-ATPase activities of erythrocyte membranes of white rats was studied in experiments in vivo and in vitro. The activity of Na, K, Mg-ATPase was found to be markedly inhibited in the preclinical period of poisoning, 2 hours after intraperitoneal injection of the toxin. In this case Mg-ATPase activity noticeably increased. In the presence of the development of a grave paralytic syndrome one day after intraperitoneal injection of the toxin, the activity of Na, K-ATPase of the erythrocyte membrane remained decreased as was the case in the preclinical period of poisoning, whereas the activity of Mg-ATPase returned to normal. The experiments in vitro with preincubation of erythrocyte membranes with botulinum toxin in the concentrations corresponding to the mean calculated ones in the experiments in vivo demonstrated inhibition of Na, K-ATPase. The magnitude of Mg-ATPase activity remained virtually unchanged in all the modifications of the experiments with boiled and native botulinum toxin. The in-vivo experiments with intraperitoneal injection of glutathione and unithiol to the pretreated animals attested to normalization of Na, K-ATPase in the preclinical period of poisoning, with this normalization being brought about by unithiol. In the in-vitro experiments with addition of unithiol or glutathione into the incubation medium, each of the donators of sulphhydryl groups prevented Na, K-ATPase inhibition with botulinum toxin.