Cytochrome Oxidase Activity and Mitochondrial Gene Expression in Skeletal Muscle of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Several recent studies have suggested that skeletal muscle bioenergetics are abnormal in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study investigates the activity of cytochrome oxidase (COX), the terminal enzyme in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, and the expression of two mitochondrial DNA genes related to COX (mRNA of subunit I of COX [COX-I] and the RNA component of the 12S ribosomal subunit [12S rRNA]), in quadriceps femoris muscle biopsies obtained from COPD patients with various degrees of arterial hypoxemia, and from healthy sedentary control subjects of similar age. The activity of COX was measured spectrophotometrically in fresh tissue at 37 ° C with excess substrate. RNA transcripts were measured using reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. The measurements of mRNA COX-I and 12S rRNA were normalized to the mRNA of actin, which is a housekeeping gene not influenced by hypoxia. We found that, compared with control subjects, COPD patients with chronic...