Increase in hepatic ubiquinone on administration of diethylhexyl phthalate to the rat.

ABSTRACT

It is shown for the first time that the content of ubiquinone of liver increases (2·5 fold) on dietary administration of the widely-used industrial plasticizer diethylhexyl phthalate to the rat. The increase is localized almost entirely in mitochondria in which the concentration of the quinone per mg protein is 1·7 times the control. Incorporation of the radioactive precursor (acetate) reveals that the biosynthesis of ubiquinone is increased in the livers of plasticizer-administered animals. The rate of degradation is not altered.