Drawing Conclusions: How Does a Poison Affect Cellular Respiration?

Drawing Conclusions: How Does a Poison Affect Cellular Respiration?
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Drawing Conclusions: How Does a Poison Affect Cellular Respiration?
Cellular respiration is vital in human as it produces ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) through utilization of glucose in human’ body (Geschwind, Ko, Torbenson, Magee, & Pedersen, 2002). ATP is essential for the body to perform its functions correctly. Cellular respiration takes place in the cytosol of the cell. Cellular respiration involves three basic steps, which are highlighted below. The first stage of cellular respiration is glycolysis, which involves breaking glucose into two molecules. The second stage is the citric acid cycle, which involves the production of two net molecules of ATP as well as NADH (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) through alteration of pyruvate. The last stage of cellular respiration is the electron transport chain, which produces more ATP than any of the two early stages. The later stage involves the transfer of electrons between a donor and acceptor.
My assigned inhibitor is Antimycin A, which is produced by species called Streptomyces. Antimycin A inhibitor inhibits mitochondrial respiration. Thus, Antimycin A can deplete the cellular levels of ATP because of mitochondrial inhibitions. On another hand, Antimycin A acts at Qn and hence preventing the formation of relative UQ, which is stable (David, Nicholls, Stuart, and Ferguson, 2013). Therefore, when Oxygen is added in the presence of this inhibitor to anaerobic suspension, the reduction of the b cytochromes takes place.

Similarly, the presence of Antimycin A reduces the production of NAD+, NADH, and pyruvate.
Subsequently, when cellular respiration is blocked, the consequences are death since there is no other alternative the cell can use to generate ATP. It is important to note that inhibitors such as Antimycin A can lead to lead to death since they interfere with the production of many chemical compounds. Therefore, cellular respiration is a crucial process in living things; human being must always take precautions not to come in contact with poisonous substances that might result in improper functioning of cellular respiration.
References
36th International Congress of the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists (EAPCCT) 24-27 May, 2016, Madrid, Spain. (2016). Clinical Toxicology (15563650), 54(4), 344–519. https://doi.org/10.3109/15563650.2016.1165952
David G. Nicholls, Stuart J. Ferguson (Fourth Edition), ( 2013). Antimycin A: Respiratory chain. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/antimycin-aGeschwind, J. F. H., Ko, Y. H., Torbenson, M. S., Magee, C., & Pedersen, P. L. (2002). Novel therapy for liver cancer: direct intraarterial injection of a potent inhibitor of ATP production. Cancer research, 62(14), 3909-3913.
MMWR (2005). Unintentional Non–Fire-Related Carbon Monoxide Exposures — United States, 2001—2003