Free Radicals in Heart Muscle Mitochondrial Particles: Mechanism of Formation.

thereby initiating a rapid change in the fumarate/succinate ratio, the free radical concentration increases to a maximum and then declines to zero Our results suggest, therefore, that the free radicals observed in heart particles arise from equilibrium processes catalyzed by succinic dehydrogenase and that their steady-state concentration is governed by the parameters which affect this equilibrium. The paper which follows presents quantitative data on the relation between these parameters and the free radical concentration, which confirm the foregoing conclusion and characterize the reaction mechanisms involved in free radical formation.