Sepsis alters skeletal muscle energetics and membrane function.

The effects of sepsis on skeletal muscle energetics and membrane function are poorly understood, and the time course of changes in energy metabolism are unclear. To clarify these relationships, high energy phosphate ratios, intracellular pH, and phosphocreatine breakdown rates were measured in vivo in the gastrocnemius muscle of adult male Wistar rats after cecal ligation and puncture or sham operation with 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration and Na(+)-K+ ATPase and creatine kinase activities were determined in vitro.