Paraquat can induce alterations in endoplasmic reticulum that might contribute to the changes in glucose-6-phosphatase activity, resulting in an increase of blood glucose level and/or all the effects can be attributed to a high level of circulating epinephrine produced by paraquat toxicosis. Paraquat induces mitochondrial dysfunction and ATP depletion in brain tissues or cultured cells (54,62). Therefore, our in vivo findings of ATP depletion would be a contributory factor for the observed proteasome dysfunction. The two reactions use carrier molecules to transport the energy from one to the other. The lower energy form, NADP+, picks up a high energy electron and a proton and is converted to NADPH. When NADPH gives up its electron, it is converted back to NADP+
