Studies of Lymph and Lymphocyte Respiration to Estimate Tissue Oxygen Pressures and Oxygen Permeability of the Lymph Duct

Abstract

It is well established that a mixed peripheral blood lymphocyte population, when subjected to a mitogenic stimulus in vitro, will show a significant increase in glucose consumption which is matched by lactate output. This increased glycolysis has been ascribed to a direct effect of the mitogen upon glucose transport. Less convincing are the reports on the stimulation of oxygen uptake following mitogenic stimuli, however it seems that those reports which indicate an absence of an oxygen uptake stimulation following in vitro mitogenesis (Weidemann and Kolbuch, 1974 and Culvenor and Weidemann, 1976) are the consequence of failure to follow the respiration rate for prolonged periods after the stimulation. It seems that in vitro stimulation of lymphocytes does generate a significant increasein oxygen uptake which is not maximal until about day 3 (Roos and Loos, 1973).