Rate Of Pyruvate Decarboxylation Research Articles

Pyruvate Protects Neurons against Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Toxicity

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is suspected to be involved in numerous brain pathologies such as neurodegenerative diseases or in acute injury such as ischemia or trauma. In this study, we examined the ability of pyruvate to improve the survival of cultured striatal neurons exposed for 30 min to H2O2, as estimated 24 hr later by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide assay. Pyruvate strongly protected neurons against both H2O2 added to the external medium and H2O2 endogenously produced through the redox cycling of the experimental quinone menadione. The neuroprotective effect of pyruvate appeared to result rather from the ability of alpha-ketoacids to undergo nonenzymatic decarboxylation in the presence of H2O2 than from an improvement of energy metabolism. Indeed, several other alpha-ketoacids, including alpha-ketobutyrate, which is not an energy substrate, reproduced the neuroprotective effect of pyruvate. In contrast, lactate, a neuronal energy substrate, did not protect neurons from H2O2. Optimal neuroprotection was achieved with relatively low concentrations of pyruvate (</=1 mM), whereas at high concentration (10 mM) pyruvate was ineffective. This paradox could result from the cytosolic acidification induced by the cotransport of pyruvate and protons into neurons. Indeed, cytosolic acidification both enhanced the H2O2-induced neurotoxicity and decreased the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation by H2O2. Together, these results indicate that pyruvate efficiently protects neurons against both exogenous and endogenous H2O2. Its low toxicity and its capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier open a new therapeutic perspective in brain pathologies in which H2O2 is involved.

Quantifying the Carboxylation of Pyruvate in Pancreatic Islets

Pyruvate has been estimated to enter the citric acid cycle in islets by carboxylation to the same extent or more than by decarboxylation. Those estimates were made assuming the dimethyl esters of [1,4-14C]succinate and [2-3-14C]succinate, incubated with islets at a concentration of 10 mM, gave the same ratio of 14CO2 yields as if [1-14C]acetate and [2-14C]acetate had been incubated. The labeled succinates, at 10 mM, but not 1 mM, are now shown to give ratios higher than the labeled acetates at those concentrations and therefore higher estimates when related to yields from [2-14C]glucose and [6-14C]glucose. Using the labeled acetate ratios in paired incubations, the rate of pyruvate carboxylation is still estimated to be about two-thirds the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation. Participation of the malic enzyme-catalyzed reaction explains the greater ratio of yields of 14CO2 from the succinates at 10 mM than 1 mM and increases in those ratios on glucose addition and can account for the removal from the citric acid cycle of oxaloacetate carbon formed in the carboxylation.

Isotopomer studies of gluconeogenesis and the Krebs cycle with 13C-labeled lactate.

Fasted rats were intragastrically infused with either [2,3-13C]lactate or [1,2,3-13C]lactate. The infusate also contained 14C-labeled lactate and [3-3H]glucose. Glucose, alanine, glutamate, and glutamine were isolated from liver and blood. There was near complete equilibration of lactate and alanine, and the relative specific activities and relative enrichments were the same in blood and liver. Glucose was cleaved enzymatically to lactate. The compounds were examined by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. From the mass isotopomer spectra of the lactate, glutamate, and glutamine and their cleavage fragments the positional isotopomer composition of these compounds was obtained. The enrichment and isotopomer pattern in the lactate from cleaved glucose represents that in phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP). When [1,2,3-13C]lactate was infused the mass isotopomer spectrum of glutamates consisted only of compounds containing either one, two, or three 13C carbons per molecule (m1, m2, and m3). There was little 13C in C-4 and C-5 of glutamate. The rate of pyruvate decarboxylation is low, and 3-4% of the acetyl-CoA flux in the Krebs cycle is contributed by lactate carbon. The major isotopomers in lactate, alanine, and PEP were m3 and m2 with 13C in C-2 and C-3. The predominant isotopomer in PEP from [2,3-13C]lactate was m2 with 13C in C-2 and C-3. There was much more of m1 isotopomer with 13C in C-3 and C-2 than the m1 isotopomer with 13C in C-1. There was very little m3, the isotopomer with 13C in all three carbons. Most of the 13C in C-3 and C-4 of glucose and C-1 of glutamate was introduced via 13CO2 fixation. From the isotopomer distribution and the rate of glucose turnover we deduced, applying the analysis described in the "Appendix," the absolute rates of gluconeogenic pathways, recycling of PEP and the Cori cycle, and flux in the Krebs cycle. The flux from oxaloacetate (OAA)-->PEP was seven times that of OAA-->citrate, and about half of PEP was recycled to pyruvate via pyruvate kinase. The mass isotopomer patterns in glutamate and glutamine were similar but differed from those of lactate and glucose. It appears that the glutamates are derived from alpha-ketoglutarate from a different Krebs cycle pool than PEP. The flux from OAA to PEP in this pool was two to three times that of OAA to citrate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The effects of alpha-adrenergic stimulation on the regulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in the perfused rat liver.

The regulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex was investigated during alpha-adrenergic stimulation with phenylephrine in the isolated perfused rat liver. The metabolic flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction was monitored by measuring the production of 14CO2 from infused [1-14C] pyruvate. In livers from fed animals perfused with a low concentration of pyruvate (0.05 mM), phenylephrine infusion significantly inhibited the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation without affecting the amount of pyruvate dehydrogenase in its active form. Also, phenylephrine caused no significant effect on tissue NADH/NAD+ and acetyl-CoA/CoASH ratios or on the kinetics of pyruvate decarboxylation in 14CO2 washout experiments. Phenylephrine inhibition of [1-14C]pyruvate decarboxylation was, however, closely associated with a decrease in the specific radioactivity of perfusate lactate, suggesting that the pyruvate decarboxylation response simply reflected dilution of the labeled pyruvate pool due to phenylephrine-stimulated glycogenolysis. This suggestion was confirmed in additional experiments which showed that the alpha-adrenergic-mediated inhibitory effect on pyruvate decarboxylation was reduced in livers perfused with a high concentration of pyruvate (1 mM) and was absent in livers from starved rats. Thus, alpha-adrenergic agonists do not exert short term regulatory effects on pyruvate dehydrogenase in the liver. Furthermore, the results suggest either that the rat liver pyruvate dehydrogenase complex is insensitive to changes in mitochondrial calcium or that changes in intramitochondrial calcium levels as a result of alpha-adrenergic stimulation are considerably less than suggested by others.

The effect of ketone bodies and fatty acid on intestinal glucose metabolism during development.

Glucose oxidation by developing rat intestine changed dramatically during the period of suckling and weaning. After weaning, glucose oxidation to CO2 by intestinal slices increased over 3-fold This was associated with an increase in lactate production from glucose and an increase in the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation. Active pyruvate dehydrogenase in intestine of developing rats also increases in activity at the time of weaning, suggesting that the suppression of glucose oxidation during the suckling period is controlled by pyruvate dehydrogenase. Glucose oxidation to CO2 and pyruvate decarboxylation to CO2 by intestinal slices of postweaned animals was inhibited by exogenous 3-hydroxybutyrate. But exogenous 3-hydroxybutyrate did not inhibit glucose and pyruvate oxidation in intestine of suckling animals which have higher levels of endogenous 3-hydroxybutyrate than intestine of postweaned rats. Palmitate, in contrast, inhibited glucose and pyruvate oxidation by both pre- and postweaned intestine.

Regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in ischemic rat heart.

The effect of flow-induced ischemia on the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation and the activation state of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex was investigated in the isolated, perfused rat heart. Pyruvate dehydrogenase activity in the heart decreased significantly during flow-induced ischemia and was a function of changes in the activation state (i.e., active/total activity) of the enzyme complex. In the absence of pyruvate, the activation state of pyruvate dehydrogenase decreased from nearly 100% active at the normal flow rate (10 ml/min) to 20% active as the flow was reduced to 0.5 ml/min. At high pyruvate levels (5 mM), the activation state increased from nearly 70% active at control flow rates to 100% active during ischemia. At an intermediate pyruvate concentration (0.5 mM), the enzyme complex was maintained at a relatively low activation state (30-35% active) throughout the range of flow rates tested. Ischemia caused elevated perfusate lactate concentrations only when the flow rates were less than 5.0 ml/min. The activation state of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in hearts perfused with glucose was also decreased during ischemia.

The stimulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis by acetoacetate precursors. A role for the monocarboxylate translocator.

The regulation of the gluconeogenic pathway from the 3-carbon precursors pyruvate, lactate, and alanine was investigated in the isolated perfused rat liver. Using pyruvate (less than 1 mM), lactate, or alanine as the gluconeogenic precursor, infusion of the acetoacetate precursors oleate, acetate, or beta-hydroxybutyrate stimulated the rate of glucose production and, in the case of pyruvate (less than 1 mM), the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation. alpha-Cyanocinnamate, an inhibitor of the monocarboxylate transporter, prevented the stimulation of pyruvate decarboxylation and glucose production due to acetate infusion. With lactate as the gluconeogenic precursor, acetate infusion in the presence of L-carnitine stimulated the rate of gluconeogenesis (100%) and ketogenesis (60%) without altering the tissue acetyl-CoA level usually considered a requisite for the stimulation of gluconeogenesis by fatty acids. Hence, our studies suggest that gluconeogenesis from pyruvate or other substrates which are converted to pyruvate prior to glucose synthesis may be limited or controlled by the rate of entry of pyruvate into the mitochondrial compartment on the monocarboxylate translocator.

Evidence for the compartmentation of pyruvate metabolism in perfused rat skeletal muscle

In rat hindlimbs perfused with [1-14C]pyruvate and 5 mM-dichloroacetate, the calculated apparent rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was decreased with increasing perfusate pyruvate concentrations. However, in the absence of dichloroacetate the apparent rate of decarboxylation increased under these conditions. Dichloroacetate enhanced [1-14C]pyruvate uptake, but decreased the specific radioactivity of effluent lactate. Glycogen metabolism remained unaffected. The results were not consistent with a common pyruvate pool, but provide evidence for the compartmentation of pyruvate metabolism.

Mechanism of pyruvate dehydrogenase activation by increased cardiac work

The effects of increased cardiac work, pyruvate and insulin on the state of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activation and rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was studied in the isolated perfused rat heart. At low levels of cardiac work, 61% of PDH was present in the active form when glucose was the only substrate provided. The actual rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was only 5% of the available capacity calculated from the percent of active PDH. Under this condition, the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was restricted by the slow rate of pyruvate production from glycolysis. Increasing cardiac work accelerated glycolysis, but production of pyruvate remained rate limiting for pyruvate oxidation and only 40% of the maximal active PDH capacity was used. Addition of insulin along with glucose reduced the percent of active PDH to 16% of the total at low cardiac work. This effect of insulin was associated with increased mitochondria NADH NAD and acetyl CoA CoA ratios. With both glucose and insulin the calculated maximum capacity of active PDH was about the same as measured rates of pyruvate oxidation indicating that pyruvate oxidation was limited by the activation state of PDH. In this case, raising the level of cardiac work increased the active PDH to 85% and although pyruvate oxidation was accelerated, measured flux through PDH was only 73% of the maximal activity of active PDH. With pyruvate as added exogenous substrate, PDH was 82% of active at low cardiac work probably due to pyruvate inhibition of PDH kinase. In this case, the measured rate of pyruvate oxidation was 64% of the capacity of active PDH. However, increased cardiac work still caused further activation of PDH to 96% active. Thus, actual rates of pyruvate oxidation in the intact tissue were determined by (1) the supply of pyruvate in hearts receiving glucose alone, (2) by the percent of active PDH in hearts receiving both glucose and insulin at low work and (3) by end-product inhibition in hearts receiving glucose and insulin at high work or at all levels of work with pyruvate as substrate. The increase in active PDH with higher levels of cardiac work was associated most closely with reduced mitochondrial NADH NAD ratios and with decreased acetyl CoA CoA ratios when insulin or pyruvate were present.

The effect of propionate on the regulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in the rat liver

Propionate inhibited the metabolic flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction in the perfused rat liver when the perfusate concentration of propionate was below 10 m m and the perfusate pyruvate concentration was held within the physiological range. At higher propionate concentrations (e.g., 20 m m) the inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase was alleviated and the activation state of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex was nearly doubled. In livers perfused with a high pyruvate concentration (e.g., 5 m m), propionate coinfusion at all concentrations inhibited the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation. Additional studies were performed in liver mitochondria maintained in State 3 where the ATP ADP and the NADH NAD + ratios were held constant. Low propionate concentrations (e.g., 0.5 m m) inactivated the mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, whereas propionate levels in excess of 1 m m activated the enzyme complex. CoA distribution analyses of the mitochondrial incubations indicated that the presence of either 0.5 or 10 m m propionate caused a substantial accumulation of propionyl-CoA and methylmalonyl-CoA at the expense of free CoASH. Experiments were performed in which the ratios of various acyl-CoA derivatives to CoASH were varied by sequentially increasing the l-carnitine concentrations in the incubation. An inverse relationship between the propionyl-CoA/CoASH and methylmalonyl-CoA/CoASH ratios and the activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex was observed. Experiments using freeze-thawed liver mitochondrial membranes indicated that propionate protected the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from ATP-mediated inactivation by the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase. It is our contention that the inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex at low propionate levels may be due to an increase in the mitochondrial acyl- CoA CoASH ratios, whereas the activation of the enzyme complex demonstrated at high propionate levels is due to the inhibition of the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase in a manner similar to that caused by pyruvate or dichloroacetic acid.

Role of pyruvate transporter in the regulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex in perfused rat liver.

Metabolic substrates such as octanoate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and alpha-ketoisocaproate which produce acetoacetate stimulate the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation in perfused livers from fed rats at perfusate pyruvate concentrations in the physiological range (below 0.2 mM). A quantitative relationship between pyruvate oxidation (14CO2 production from [1-14C]pyruvate) and ketogenesis (production of acetoacetate or total ketone bodies) was observed with all ketogenic substrates when studied over a wide range of concentrations. The ratio of extra pyruvate decarboxylated to extra acetoacetate produced was greater than 1 with octanoate and alpha-ketoisocaproate, but it was less than 1 with beta-hydroxybutyrate. The stimulatory effect of beta-hydroxybutyrate on pyruvate decarboxylation was abolished completely in the presence of 0.1 mM alpha-cyanocinnamate, an inhibitor of the pyruvate transporting system in the mitochondrial membrane. The data suggest that the mechanism by which the flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction is stimulated in liver under ketogenic conditions involves an acceleration of the net rate of pyruvate transport into the mitochondria compartment due to an exchange with acetoacetate and/or acetoacetate plus beta-hydroxybutyrate.

The effect of acetate on the regulation of the branched chain α-keto acid and the pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes in the perfused rat liver

The regulatory consequences of acetate infusion on the pyruvate and the branched chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase reactions in the isolated, perfused rat liver were investigated. Metabolic flux through these two decarboxylation reactions was monitored by measuring the rate of 14CO 2 production from infused 1- 14C-labeled substrates. When acetate was presented to the liver as the sole substrate the rate of ketogenesis which resulted was maximal at concentrations of acetate in excess of 10 m m. The increase in hepatic ketogenesis during acetate infusion was not accompanied by an alteration of the mitochondrial oxidation-reduction state as measured by the ratio of β-hydroxybutyrate/ acetoacetate in the effluent perfusate. While acetate infusion did not affect the rate of α-keto[1- 14C]isocaproate decarboxylation, the rate of α-keto[1- 14C]isovalerate decarboxylation was stimulated appreciably upon acetate addition. No change was observed in the amount of extractable branched chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase during acetate infusion. The rate of [1- 14C]pyruvate decarboxylation was stimulated in the presence of acetate at low (<1 m m) but not at high (>1 m m) perfusate pyruvate concentrations. The stimulation of the metabolic flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction upon acetate infusion was accompanied by an increase in the activation state of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from 25.7 to 35.6% in the active form. In a liver perfused in the presence of the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase inhibitor, dichloroacetate, at a low concentration of pyruvate (0.05 m m) the infusion of acetate did not affect the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation. As the rate of mitochondrial acetoacetate efflux is increased during acetate infusion the stimulation of pyruvate and α-ketoisovalerate decarboxylation is attributed to an accelerated rate of exchange of mitochondrial acetoacetate for cytosolic pyruvate or α-ketoisovalerate on the monocarboxylate transporter.

Energy metabolism in rat brain: inhibition of pyruvate decarboxylation by 3-hydroxybutyrate in neonatal mitochondria.

The effect of 3-hydroxybutyrate on pyruvate decarboxylation by neonatal rat brain mitochondria and synaptosomes was investigated. The rate of [1-14C]pyruvate decarboxylation (1 mM final concentration) by brain synaptosomes derived from 8-day-old rats was inhibited by 10% in the presence of 2 mM-D,L-3-hydroxybutyrate and by more than 20% in the presence of 20 mM D,L-3-hydroxybutyrate. The presence of 2 mM-D,L-3-hydroxybutyrate did not affect the rate of [1-14C]pyruvate decarboxylation (1 mM final concentration) by brain mitochondria; however, at a concentration of 20 mM-D,L-3-hydroxybutyrate, a marked inhibition was seen in preparations from both 8-hydroxybutyrate, a marked inhibition was seen in preparations from both 8-day-old (35% inhibition) and 21-day-old (24% inhibition) but not in those from adult rats. Although the presence of 100 mM-K+ in the incubation medium stimulated the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation by approximately 50% compared with the rate in presence of 1 mM-K+, the presence of 20 mM-D,L-3-hydroxybutyrate still caused a marked inhibition in both media (1 and 100 mM-K+). The presence of 20 mM-D,L-3-hydroxybutyrate during the incubation caused an approximately 20% decrease in the level of the active form of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in brain mitochondria from 8-day-old rats. The concentrations of ATP, ADP, NAD+, NADH, acetyl CoA, and CoA were measured in brain mitochondria from 8-day-old rats incubated in the presence of 1 mM-pyruvate alone or 1 mM-pyruvate plus 20 mM-D,L-3-hydroxybutyrate. Neither the APT/ADP nor the NADH/NAD+ ratio showed significant changes. The acetyl CoA/CoA ratio was significantly increased by more than twofold in the presence of 3-hydroxybutyrate. The possible mechanisms and physiological significance of 3-hydroxybutyrate inhibition of pyruvate decarboxylation in neonatal rat brain rat mitochondria are discussed.

The regulation of pyruvate oxidation during membrane depolarization of rat brain synaptosomes.

Studies were performed to elucidate factors involved in the regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase activity in rat brain synaptosomes during membrane depolarization. Addition of 24 mM-KCl to synaptosomes resulted in increases in rates of O2 consumption (90%) and [1-(14)C]pyruvate decarboxylation (85%) and in the active/total ratio of extractable pyruvate dehydrogenase (90--100%) within 10 s. Neither pyruvate (10 mM) nor dichloroacetate (10 mM) affected the activation state of the enzyme complex. Also, the activation state of pyruvate dehydrogenase was unaffected by addition of 1 mM-octanoate, L-(--)-carnitine, 3-hydroxybutyrate, glutamate, citrate, lactate, L-malate, acetate, acetaldehyde or ethanol. Removal of Ca2+ by using EGTA lowered the active/total ratio to about 70%, although the rate of O2 consumption and pyruvate decarboxylation was unaffected. Rates of pyruvate decarboxylation in the presence of carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone in the presence and absence of NaF and EGTA demonstrated a linear correlation with changes in the activity of the enzyme complex. This observation indicated that a change in the activation state of pyruvate dehydrogenase from 90 to 100% active could result in a 27% increase in the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation. It is suggested that the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex is an important site for the regulation of substrate utilization in rat brain synaptosomes. Further, the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation system and direct feedback-inhibitory effects on the enzyme complex both play a significant role in rapidly adapting pyruvate decarboxylation to changes in the requirements for mitochondrial energy production.

Oxfenicine diverts rat muscle metabolism from fatty acid to carbohydrate oxidation and protects the ischaemic rat heart

In isolated diaphragms from rats fed on a high-fat diet, oxfenicine (S-4-hydroxyphenylglycine) stimulated the depressed rates of pyruvate decarboxylation (2-fold) and glucose oxidation (5-fold). In diaphragms from normal-fed rats, oxfenicine had no effect on pyruvate decarboxylation but doubled the rate of glucose oxidation and inhibited the oxidation of palmitate. Treatment of fat-fed rats with oxfenicine restored the proportion of myocardial pyruvate dehydrogenase in the active form to that observed in normal-fed rats. In rat hearts perfused in the presence of glucose, insulin and palmitate, oxfenicine increased carbohydrate oxidation and stimulated cardiac performance with no increase in oxygen consumption - i.e. improved myocardial efficiency. Working rat hearts perfused with glucose, insulin and palmitate and subjected to 10 min global ischaemia recovered to 81% of their pre-ischaemic cardiac output after 30 min reperfusion, and released large amounts of lactate dehydrogenase into the perfusate. Hearts perfused with oxfenicine had slightly higher pre-ischaemic cardiac outputs and, on reperfusion, recovered more completely (to 96% of the pre-ischaemic value). Oxfenicine reduced the amount of lactate dehydrogenase released by 73%. We conclude that, in rat hearts with high rates of fatty acid oxidation, a relative increase in carbohydrate oxidation will improve myocardial efficiency, and preserve mechanical function and cellular integrity during acute ischaemia.

The effect of fatty acids on the regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase in perfused rat liver.

The effect of fatty acids on the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was studied in perfused livers from fed rats. The production of 14CO2 from infused [1-14C]pyruvate was employed as a monitor of the flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction. A correction for other decarboxylation reactions was made using kinetic analyses. Fatty acid (octanoate or oleate) infusion caused a stimulation of pyruvate decarboxylation at pyruvate concentrations in the perfusate below 1 mM (up to 3-fold at 0.05 mM pyruvate) but decreased the rate to one-third of control rates at pyruvate concentrations near 5 mM. These effects were half-maximal at fatty acid concentrations below 0.1 mM. Infusion of 3-hydroxybutyrate also caused a marked stimulation of pyruvate decarboxylation at low pyruvate concentrations. The data suggest that the mechanism by which fatty acids stimulate the flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction in perfused liver at low (limiting) pyruvate concentrations involves an acceleration of pyruvate transport into the mitochondrial compartment due to an exchange with acetoacetate. Furthermore, it is proposed that a relationship exists between ketogenesis and the regulation of pyruvate oxidation at pyruvate concentrations approximating conditions in vivo.

The effect of insulin on pyruvate dehydrogenase interconversion in heart muscle of alloxan-diabetic rats.

Evidence is presented for regulation by insulin of pyruvate dehydrogenase (pdh) interconversion in rat heart muscle in vivo and in vitro. In the alloxan diabetic rat the active (dephospho) enzyme amounted only to 12% of total PDH and was restored to 42% by insulin. Antilipolytic treatment of the dibetic animals was ineffective, indicating that the action of insulin was independent of a lowering of plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentration. On perfusion of isolated hearts from diabetic rats in the presence of glucose the proportion of pyruvate dehydrogenase in the active form remained low but was fully restored upon addition of insulin (2mU/ml) to the medium. No effect of insulin was obtained in the absence of glucose. The correlation between the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation in the perfused heart and of pyruvate dehydrogenase activity, in vitro, suggests that in the diabetic heart the entry of pyruvate into the citric acid cycle is largely controlled by covalent modification of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex rather than by feedback inhibition. The possible role of insulin therein is discussed.

Glucocorticoid-stimulated utilization of substrates in hepatic mitochondria

Glucocorticoids administered to rats have been found to stimulate the rates of utilization of substrates by subsequently isolated hepatic mitochondria. This stimulation was observed in the carboxylation and decarboxylation of pyruvate and in the oxidation of β-hydroxybutyrate and succinate during state 3 and uncoupled conditions. These effects were produced by cortisol, triamcinolone, and dexamethasone, but not by deoxycorticosterone. Responses to the steroids were similar to those observed after glucagon or triiodothyronine administration. The stimulation of the rate of pyruvate decarboxylation was shown to occur independently of the rate of pyruvate carboxylation. Steroids varied with respect to the time required after in vivo administration for stimulation of metabolism to occur, as well as for achievement of maximally stimulated levels. Significant stimulation was obtained within 60 min after treatment with cortisol-succinate and 90 min after dexamethasone or cortisol. Maximal stimulation was observed after 2 to 4 h of treatment. The dose dependency of the mitochondrial responses was observable in the increase in the rates of pyruvate carboxylation after dexamethasone or cortisol treatment. Of the two steroids tested, dexamethasone was approximately 2000-fold more potent than cortisol in increasing mitochondrial activity. The effects of 30 min of treatment with glucagon or 20 h with triiodothyronine were additive with the stimulation produced by glucocorticoids. Complete additivity was found in the increased rates of pyruvate carboxylation, while oxidation of substrates was approximately 75% additive.

Effects of treatment with pyruvate and tromethamine in experimental myocardial ischemia.

Failure of glycolysis to increase sufficiently to supply optimal levels of energy production in ischemic heart muscle is due in part to the cummulative restrainst of acidosis on rate-limiting enzymes, particularly glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. In an effort to modify this inhibition and salvage jeopardized myocardium, treatment with excess levels of pyruvate and tromethamine (Tris), designed to buffer intracellular hydrogen ion accumulations and improve the oxidation-reduction ratio, NAD+/NADH, was tested in 59 swine hearts in two separate preparations of global and regional ischemia. Global ischemia, per se, caused hemodynamic deterioration and shortened survival time (44.3 +/- 3.1 minutes). Myocardial oxygen consumption, fatty acid oxidation, and glucose uptake were all significantly (P less than 0.001) reduced as were estimates of glycolysis and tissue stores of creatine phosphate and ATP (P less than 0.01). Although treatment with Tris alone was inconclusive, administrations of pyruvate (40-50 mM) buffered with Tris (added directly into the coronary perfusate) effected an improvement in mechanical function and a significant prolongation in survival time (56.9 +/- 2.6 minutes. P less than 0.01). Glycogenolysis was enhanced and levels of key glycolytic intermediates were reduced, suggesting an acceleration of glycolytic flux. Excess levels of pyruvate (1.52 +/- 0.48 mumol/ml of coronary perfusate) provided added substrate for oxidation and led to a greater than 5-fold incrase in rates of pyruvate decarboxylation as compared to untreated ischemic hearts...

The mitochondrial pyruvate carrier, its exchange properties and its regulation by glucagon

1. Introduction Earlier reports [ 1,2] have demonstrated the presence of a pyruvate carrier in rat liver mitochondria. The evidence was pH dependence of uptake and efflux of pyruvate suggesting exchange with hydroxide anions, saturation kinetics and the existence of a specific inhibitor, cw-cyano4-hydroxy-cinnamic acid. It was reported that phosphate and citrate anions would not exchange for pyruvate [l] but later there has been disagreement as to whether dicarboxylate anions could exchange with pyruvate across fhe mitochondrial membrane (cf. [3,4] ). Because of this and because of the potential relevance of pyruvate/ dicarboxylate exchange to the regulation of gluconeo- genesis we have reinvestigated this point using a recently published technique [S] . This technique, which uses cu-cyano-3-hydroxy-cinnamic acid as an ‘inhibitor-stop’, has the merit (in comparison with other methods) of measuring initial rates of uptake along a controlled pH gradient at temperatures near to physiological. Our results suggest that such a pyruvate/dicarboxylate exchange does occur and that it probably involves the pyruvate carrier only. Using the same technique we have also investigated the possibility suggested by others [6-81 that glucagon stimulation of gluconeogenesis in the liver in situ or in liver cells incubated in vitro may involve stimulation of pyruvate entry into the mitochondria. The suggestion was based on indirect evidence, namely increased rates of pyruvate decarboxylation and carboxylation by isolated mitochondria from liver exposed to high concentrations of glucagon. We have no shown directly that there is in fact a con-