Futile cycles in isolated perfused rat liver and in isolated rat liver parenchymal cells

Thyroid hormone, thyromimetics, and metabolic efficiency

Thyroid hormone (TH) has long been recognized as a major modulator of metabolic efficiency, energy expenditure, and thermogenesis. TH effects in regulating metabolic efficiency are transduced by controlling the coupling of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and the cycling of extramitochondrial substrate/futile cycles. However, despite our present understanding of the genomic and nongenomic modes of action of TH, its control of mitochondrial coupling still remains elusive. This review summarizes historical and up-to-date findings concerned with TH regulation of metabolic energetics, while integrating its genomic and mitochondrial activities. It underscores the role played by TH-induced gating of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (PTP) in controlling metabolic efficiency. PTP gating may offer a unified target for some TH pleiotropic activities and may serve as a novel target for synthetic functional thyromimetics designed to modulate metabolic efficiency. PTP gating by long-chain fatty acid analogs may serve as a model for such strategy.

Suppression of glycolysis is associated with an increase in glucose cycling in hepatocytes from diabetic rats

Rates of cycling between glucose and glucose 6-phosphate and between glucose and pyruvate, and the effects of these cycles on glucose metabolism, were compared in hepatocytes isolated from fasted normal or streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. In diabetic hepatocytes the rate of glucose phosphorylation was 30% lower than that in normal hepatocytes, and there was a doubling of the rate of glucose/glucose 6-phosphate cycling. In addition, the rate of glycolysis was 60% lower in diabetic hepatocytes. This inhibition of glycolysis and stimulation of glucose/glucose 6-phosphate cycling appeared to be a consequence of the elevated rates of endogenous fatty acid oxidation observed in diabetic hepatocytes. The proportion of glycolytically derived pyruvate that was recycled to glucose was more than doubled in hepatocytes from diabetic rats compared with normal animals. This increase also appeared to be linked to the high rates of endogenous fatty acid oxidation in diabetic cells. As a consequence of the increased rates of both these cycles, 85% of all glucose molecules taken up by diabetic hepatocytes were recycled to glucose, compared with only 50% in normal hepatocytes. Glucose cycling is therefore likely to make a substantial contribution to the hyperglycemia of diabetes.

Effects of thyroid status on glucose cycling by isolated rat hepatocytes

The effects of alterations in thyroid status on glucose metabolism have been investigated in rat hepatocytes. Addition of 10 or 40 mmol/L glucose induced increases in respiration rate that were significantly larger in cells from hyperthyroid rats than from hypothyroid animals. The responses of hepatocytes from euthyroid rats were intermediate. In cells from hyperthyroid rats, most of the increase occurred upon addition of 10 mmol/L glucose, with only a further small stimulation resulting when glucose concentration was increased to 40 mmol/L. For a given glucose concentration, glycolytic rates, determined by measuring release of tritium from [6-3H]glucose, were comparable in all thyroid states. Studies with 10 mmol/L [2-3H]glucose showed that cycling between glucose-6-phosphate and glucose was almost twofold higher in euthyroid and hyperthyroid states as compared with the hypothyroid state, although the magnitude of the increase in cycling rate was only approximately 0.2 mumol glucose.min-1.g-1. When 40 mmol/L [2-3H]glucose was added, over 44% of the glucose that was phosphorylated to glucose-6-phosphate was cycled back to glucose, but this cycling was independent of thyroid status. Cycling between fructose-1,6-bisphosphate and fructose-6-phosphate was negligible in all thyroid states. Rates of glycogen synthesis were comparable in hypothyroid and hyperthyroid states and slightly less than in the euthyroid state. Glycolytically formed pyruvate was cycled back to glucose in hepatocytes from hypothyroid, euthyroid, and hyperthyroid rats. During a 60-minute incubation period, cycling to glucose in the presence of 10 mmol/L or 40 mmol/L glucose was up to twofold higher in cells from euthyroid and hyperthyroid rats than in hepatocytes from hypothyroid animals. The measured increases in cycling rates induced by thyroid hormone were small and in theory could have been satisfied by a much smaller increase in respiration rate than was observed.

The contribution of glucose cycling to the maintenance of steady-state levels of lactate by hepatocytes during glycolysis and gluconeogenesis

When hepatocytes from fasted rats were incubated with 10 mM glucose, there was a linear accumulation of lactate and pyruvate for about 80 min after which steady-state concentrations of these metabolites became established. The rate of glycolysis, determined with [6-3H]glucose, was constant over the entire incubation period and was 50% greater than that calculated from carbon balance studies. This suggests that one-third of the glycolytic products formed were recycled to glucose. To enable study of the factors associated with the generation and maintenance of the lactate steady state and to measure accurately the carbon balance, incubations were performed using supraphysiological concentrations of glucose (20-80 mM). Under these conditions the initial rate of lactate accumulation and its concentration at steady state were shown to be dependent on the concentration of extracellular glucose. Rates of glycolysis were also measured using 40 mM [6-3H]glucose and [U-14C]glucose added alone, or in combination with a steady-state lactate concentration (3 mM). There was no effect on the rate of glycolysis determine with [6-3H]glucose, even when lactate was present in the medium. The difference in rates between measurements with the two isotopes reflect the apparent degree of glucose recycling which in the absence and presence of added lactate increased from 0.26 to 0.54 mumol C3 equivalents min-1.g-1 respectively. Identical studies employing [U-14C]lactate showed that glucose and CO2 were the major products of lactate metabolism under steady-state conditions and that the formation of lactate from [U-14C]glucose exactly balanced the rate of lactate removal as a result of oxidation and gluconeogenesis. These studies provide evidence for the concomitant operation of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, even in the presence of high glucose concentrations. They also demonstrate that lactate steady states are achieved not by the cessation of glycolysis but rather by the removal of lactate and pyruvate at a rate equal to that of their production.

The contribution of pyruvate cycling to loss of [6-3H]glucose during conversion of glucose to glycogen in hepatocytes: effects of insulin, glucose and acinar origin of hepatocytes

1. During conversion of [6-3H,U-14C]glucose to glycogen in liver, loss of 6-3H can occur either by cycling via pyruvate (between glycolysis and gluconeogenesis) or by other mechanisms. We used mercaptopicolinate, an inhibitor of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, to determine the extent to which pyruvate cycling contributes to loss of 6-3H during glucose conversion to glycogen in hepatocytes. 2. Mercaptopicolinate increased the 3H/14C ratio in glycogen during incubation of rat, guinea pig, pig and human hepatocytes with [6-3H,U-14C]glucose. The increase in the 3H/14C ratio in glycogen caused by mercaptopicolinate was greater in periportal than in perivenous rat hepatocytes, indicating that cycling of glucose via pyruvate is more prominent in cells with a higher gluconeogenic relative to glycolytic capacity. 3. The effect of mercaptopicolinate on the 3H/14C ratio in glycogen was observed both in the absence and in the presence of insulin, indicating that stimulation of glycogen synthesis by insulin is not associated with inhibition of pyruvate cycling. In rat and guinea pig but not in pig hepatocytes, the effects of mercaptopicolinate on the 3H/14C ratio in glycogen were greater at 10-15 mM glucose than at 30 mM glucose, suggesting diminished cycling via pyruvate at high glucose concentrations. 4. Insulin increased the loss of 6-3H during stimulation of conversion of glucose to glycogen in hepatocytes from all species. This was due in part to an increase in pyruvate cycling and in part to other mechanisms that are not inhibited by mercaptopicolinate. 5. These results suggest that pyruvate cycling is a significant, but not exclusive, component of the loss of 6-3H in the hepatocyte during glucose conversion to glycogen. The extent of pyruvate cycling is dependent on the acinar origin of the hepatocytes and on the glucose concentration and presence of insulin.

Differences in energy metabolism between normal weight 'large-eating' and 'small-eating' women

Nine 'large-eating' (approximately 12 MJ/d) and nine 'small-eating' (approximately 5.3 MJ/d) women were selected from the population on the basis of diet and activity diaries. At rest and in the post-absorptive state the rate of oxygen consumption (VO2)/kg fat-free mass (FFM) and rate of carbon dioxide production (VCO2)/kg FFM were 9-17% higher (P < 0.05) in the 'large-eaters' than in the 'small-eaters'. As energy expenditure was increased by walking at 2.4, 3.9 and 5.4 km/h the differences between the two experimental groups for both VO2/kg FFM and VCO2/kg FFM were decreased to negligible values, but energy expended on a body-weight basis (MJ/kg per min) remained significantly higher (5-10%) in 'large-eaters'. Oral temperature was also consistently higher (up to 0.5 degrees) in this group both at rest and during sitting, standing and walking activities. Although the average thermic effect of a standardized liquid meal tended to be higher (27%; not significant) in the 'small-eaters', the other results demonstrate that the 'large-eating' females had a markedly higher rate of energy expenditure at rest and during light physical activities.

Assessment of insulin action in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus using [6(14)C]glucose, [3(3)H]glucose, and [2(3)H]glucose. Differences in the apparent pattern of insulin resistance depending on the isotope used

To determine whether [2(3)H], [3(3)H], and [6(14)C]glucose provide an equivalent assessment of glucose turnover in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and nondiabetic man, glucose utilization rates were measured using a simultaneous infusion of these isotopes before and during hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamps. In the nondiabetic subjects, glucose turnover rates determined with [6(14)C]glucose during insulin infusion were lower (P less than 0.02) than those determined with [2(3)H]glucose and higher (P less than 0.01) than those determined with [3(3)H]glucose. In IDDM, glucose turnover rates measured with [6(14)C]glucose during insulin infusion were lower (P less than 0.05) than those determined with [2(3)H]glucose, but were not different from those determined with [3(3)H]glucose. All three isotopes indicated the presence of insulin resistance. However, using [3(3)H]glucose led to the erroneous conclusion that glucose utilization was not significantly decreased at high insulin concentrations in the diabetic patients. [6(14)C] and [3(3)H]glucose but not [2(3)H]glucose indicated impairment in insulin-induced suppression of glucose production. These results indicate that tritiated isotopes do not necessarily equally reflect the pattern of glucose metabolism in diabetic and nondiabetic man.

Antagonistic regulation of the glucose/glucose 6-phosphate cycle by insulin and glucagon in cultured hepatocytes

Flux through the glucose/glucose 6-phosphate cycle in cultured hepatocytes was measured with radiochemical techniques. Utilization of [2-3H]glucose was taken as a measure of glucokinase flux. Liberation of [14C]glucose from [U-14C]glycogen and from [U-14C]lactate, as well as the difference between the utilization of [2-3H]glucose and of [U-14C]glucose, were taken as measures of glucose-6-phosphatase flux. At constant 5 mM-glucose and 2 mM-lactate concentrations insulin increased glucokinase flux by 35%; it decreased glucose-6-phosphatase flux from glycogen by 50%, from lactate by 15% and reverse flux from external glucose by 65%, i.e. overall by 40%. Glucagon had essentially no effect on glucokinase flux; it enhanced glucose-6-phosphatase flux from glycogen by 700%, from lactate by 45% and reverse flux from external glucose by 20%, i.e. overall by 110%. At constant glucose concentrations cellular glucose 6-phosphate concentrations were essentially not altered by insulin, but were increased by glucagon by 230%. In conclusion, under basic conditions without added hormones the glucose/glucose 6-phosphate cycle showed only a minor net glucose uptake, of 0.03 mumol/min per g of hepatocytes; this flux was increased by insulin to a net glucose uptake of 0.21 mumol/min per g and reversed by glucagon to a net glucose release of 0.22 mumol/min per g. Since the glucose 6-phosphate concentrations after hormone treatment did not correlate with the glucose-6-phosphatase flux, it is suggested that the hormones influenced the enzyme activity directly.

Substrate cycling between gluconeogenesis and glycolysis in euthyroid, hypothyroid, and hyperthyroid man

Substrate, or futile cycles, have been hypothesized to be under hormonal control, and important in metabolic regulation and thermogenesis. To define the role of thyroid hormones in the regulation of substrate cycling in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, we measured rates of cycling in normal (n = 4), hypothyroid (n = 5), and hyperthyroid (n = 5) subjects employing a stable isotope turnover technique. Glucose labeled with deuterium at different positions (2-D1-, 3-D1-, and 6,6-D2-glucose) was given as a primed-constant infusion in tracer doses, and arterialized plasma samples were obtained and analyzed by gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry for the steady state enrichment of glucose that was labeled at the various positions. The rate of appearance (Ra) was then calculated for each isotopic tracer. The difference between the Ra determined by 2-D1-glucose (Ra2) and the Ra determined by 3-D1-glucose (Ra3) represents the substrate cycling rate (SCR) between glucose and glucose-6-phosphate. The difference between the Ra determined by 3-D1-glucose (Ra3) and the Ra determined by 6,6-D2-glucose (Ra6) represents the SCR between fructose-6-phosphate and fructose-1,6-diphosphate. The difference between Ra2 and Ra6 represents the combined SCR of both cycles. In normal subjects (serum thyroxine [T4] = 8.4 +/- 1.2 microgram/dl (all expressions, mean +/- SD), n = 4), the rates of appearance for Ra2, Ra3, and Ra6 were 3.23 +/- 0.56, 2.64 +/- 0.50, and 2.00 +/- 0.27 mg/kg X min, respectively, whereas those in the hypothyroid subjects (T4 = 1.0 +/- 0.8 microgram/dl; n = 5) were 1.77 +/- 0.56 (P less than 0.01), 1.52, 1.57 +/- 0.31 (P less than 0.05) mg/kg X min, respectively. Conversely, the rates of appearance for Ra2 and Ra6 in the hyperthyroid subjects (T4 = 23.9 +/- 3.6 micrograms/dl) were 3.94 +/- 0.43 (P less than 0.05) and 2.54 +/- 0.22 (P less than 0.02), respectively, compared with the normal subjects. On the basis of these data, we noted that the normal subjects had a combined SCR of 1.23 +/- 0.35 mg/kg X min. In contrast, the hypothyroid patients had a significantly decreased combined SCR, 0.20 +/- 0.54 mg/kg X min (P less than 0.02). The hyperthyroid patients had a combined SCR of 1.39 +/- 0.23 mg/kg X min (P less than NS). To determine whether these cycles responded to thyroid hormone treatment, these same hypothyroid subjects were acutely treated for 1 wk with parenteral 50 micrograms/d sodium L-triiodothyronine and chronically with 100-150 micrograms/d L-thyroxine. After 7 d, their mean oxygen consumption rate and carbon dioxide production rate increased significantly from 102+/-13 micromol/kg.min, to 147+/-34 micromol/kg.min (P<0.05), and from 76+/-13 micromol/kg.min to 111+/-19 micromol/kg.min (P<0.05), respectively. The combined SCR (Ra(2)--Ra(6) remained unchanged at 0.07+/-0.37 mg/kg.min. However, after 6 mo of oral L-thyroxine therapy (T(4)=9.5+/-1.4 microgram/kl) the treated hypothyroid patients had increased their combined SCR (Ra(2)--Ra(6)) to 0.86 +/-0.23 mg/kg.min (P<0.02), a value not significantly different from the combined SCR of normal subjects. We conclude that substrate cycling between glucose and glucose-6-phosphate and between fructose-6-phosphate and fructose-1,6-diphosphate occurs in man and is affected by thyroid hormone. Substrate cycles may represent a mechanism by which thyroid hormone alters the sensitivity of certain reactions to metabolic signals.

Quantitative analysis of intermediary metabolism in hepatocytes incubated in the presence and absence of glucagon with a substrate mixture containing glucose, ribose, fructose, alanine and acetate

Hepatocytes were isolated from the livers of fed rats and incubated, in the presence and absence of 100 nM-glucagon, with a substrate mixture containing glucose (10 mM), fructose (4 mM), alanine (3.5 mM), acetate (1.25 mM), and ribose (1 mM). In any given incubation one substrate was labelled with 14C. Incorporation of 14C into glucose, glycogen, CO2, lactate, alanine, glutamate, lipid glycerol and fatty acids was measured after 20 and 40 min of incubation under quasi-steady-state conditions [Borowitz, Stein & Blum (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 1589-1605]. These data and the measured O2 consumption were analysed with the aid of a structural metabolic model incorporating all reactions of the glycolytic, gluconeogenic, and pentose phosphate pathways, and associated mitochondrial and cytosolic reactions. A considerable excess of experimental measurements over independent flux parameters and a number of independent measurements of changes in metabolite concentrations allowed for a stringent test of the model. A satisfactory fit to the data was obtained for each condition. Significant findings included: control cells were glycogenic and glucagon-treated cells glycogenolytic during the second interval; an ordered (last in, first out) model of glycogen degradation [Devos & Hers (1979) Eur. J. Biochem. 99, 161-167] was required in order to fit the experimental data; the pentose shunt contributed approx. 15% of the carbon for gluconeogenesis in both control and glucagon-treated cells; net flux through the lower Embden-Meyerhof pathway was in the glycolytic direction except during the 20-40 min interval in glucagon-treated cells; the increased gluconeogenesis in response to glucagon was correlated with a decreased pyruvate kinase flux and lactate output; fluxes through pyruvate kinase, pyruvate carboxylase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase were not coordinately controlled; Krebs cycle activity did not change with glucagon treatment; flux through the malic enzyme was towards pyruvate formation except for control cells during interval II; and 'futile' cycling at each of the five substrate cycles examined (including a previously undescribed cycle at acetate/acetyl-CoA) consumed about 26% of cellular ATP production in control hepatocytes and 21% in glucagon-treated cells.

Quantitative analysis of flux along the gluconeogenic, glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathways under reducing conditions in hepatocytes isolated from fed rats

Hepatocytes were isolated from the livers of fed rats and incubated with a mixture of glucose (10 mM), ribose (1 mM), mannose (4 mM), glycerol (3 mM), acetate (1.25 mM), and ethanol (5 mM) with one substrate labelled with 14C in any given incubation. Incorporation of label into CO2, glucose, glycogen, lipid glycerol and fatty acids, acetate and C-1 of glucose was measured at 20 and 40 min after the start of the incubation. The data (about 48 measurements for each interval) were used in conjunction with a single-compartment model of the reactions of the gluconeogenic, glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathways and a simplified model of the relevant mitochondrial reactions. An improved method of computer analysis of the equations describing the flow of label through each carbon atom of each metabolite under steady-state conditions was used to compute values for the 34 independent flux parameters in this model. A good fit to the data was obtained, thereby permitting good estimates of most of the fluxes in the pathways under consideration. The data show that: net flux above the level of the triose phosphates is gluconeogenic; label in the hexose phosphates is fully equilibrated by the second 20 min interval; the triose phosphate isomerase step does not equilibrate label between the triose phosphates; substrate cycles are operating at the glucose-glucose 6-phosphate, fructose 6-phosphate-fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate-pyruvate-oxaloacetate cycles; and, although net flux through the enzymes catalysing the non-oxidative steps of the pentose phosphate pathway is small, bidirectional fluxes are large.

Glycogen metabolism in the liver of the neonatal gsd/gsd and control (GSD/GSD) rat

1. The metabolism of hepatic glycogen, labelled with [6-3H]glucose at day 19.5 of gestation and with 14C from [U-14C]galactose at delivery, was followed for 10 h in food-deprived gsd/gsd and control (GSD/GSD) neonatal rats. 2. In the affected pups glycogen was maintained at 12% (w/w) and there was no loss of incorporated radioactivity. 3. The 3H and 14C in glycogen from the controls were both decreased by 80%, but 14C was removed at 0--5 h and [6-3H]glucose at 5--10 h. 4. Blood glucose concentrations in the unaffected neonatal rats fell from 5.3 mM at 20 min to 1.7 mM after 10 h. In the gsd/gsd pups blood glucose concentration was decreased from 2 mM at birth to 0.3 mM at 2.5 h: it was maintained at 0.8 mM between 5 and 10 h. 5. In neonatal rats that had been dead for 10 h, hepatic glycogen was decreased by 34% in the controls and by 22% in the gsd/gsd pups. These results demonstrate that liver from the affected rats contains glycogenolytic activity, but that it is not expressed in living tissue.

Two hexokinases of Homarus americanus (lobster), one having great affinity for mannose and fructose and low affinity for glucose

Two major hexokinases (ATP: D-hexose 6-phosphotransferases, EC 2.7.1.1) have been identified in tissues of Homarus americanus (lobster) and separated from each other by DEAE-cellulose ion-exchange chromatography and by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight of each, determined by gel filtration, is about 50 000. Hexokinase II, named for its column elution order, resembles hexokinase isozymes I and II of vertebrates. Km values for glucose, mannose and fructose are 0.08, 0.13 and 6.7 mM, respectively. It is strongly inhibited by the reaction products, ADP and glucose-6-P (Ki = 0.8 mM). Hexokinase I appears to be different from any animal hexokinase previously described. It has a high affinity for mannose and fructose and low affinity for glucose. Km values are 6, 0.07 and 1.2 mM and relative maximum rates 100, 520 and 1070 for glucose, mannose and fructose, respectively. Hexokinase I is not inhibited by physiological concentrations of ATP nor by glucose-6-P , mannose-6-P or fructose-6-P even at high concentrations. Both enzymes occur in muscle at about 10% of the concentration found in the hepatopancreas. The use of Leuconostoc mesenteroides glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (D-glucose-6-phosphate: NADP+ 1-oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.49), with NAD as cofactor, is recommended for measuring hexokinases in crude tissue preparations to avoid the variable further reduction of nucleotide caused by the action of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase when NADP is used with yeast glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.

Effects of fructose concentration on carbohydrate metabolism, heat production and substrate cycling in isolated rat hepatocytes

1. Hepatocytes from starved rats were incubated with 5mm-glucose, labelled uniformly with (14)C and specifically with (3)H at positions 1, 2, 3 or 6, and with fructose at concentrations of 2.5, 7.5 or 25mm. 2. In the absence of other substrates only 1% of the radioactivity initially present in [U-(14)C]glucose appeared in the metabolic products, CO(2), lactate, pyruvate, amino acids and glycogen. 3. Fructose at 2.5mm caused a 30% increase in the glucose concentration and a 4-fold increase in the apparent oxidation of [U-(14)C]-glucose. 4. The formation of (3)H(2)O from [1-(3)H]-, [2-(3)H]-, [3-(3)H]- or [6-(3)H]-glucose was 2.4, 4.3, 2.15 or 1.6% respectively in the control incubations and 4.1, 10.4, 7.7 or 5.1% with 2.5mm-fructose. 5. Fructose at 7.5 and 25mm decreased the (3)H(2)O yields to less than the control values, but had no apparent effect on the amount of [U-(14)C]glucose metabolized. 6. In the incubations with 5mm-glucose and 25mm-fructose there were significant decreases in heat production, O(2) consumption and in the ratio of O(2) uptake to heat output. 7. Fructose at 2.5mm caused a 64% increase in heat output, but only a 43% increase in O(2) uptake. 8. The radioisotopic and calorimetric data demonstrate that physiological concentrations of fructose greatly increase metabolism in hepatocytes from starved rats. These data also indicate increased cycling at glucose/glucose 6-phosphate and at fructose 6-phosphate/fructose 1,6-bisphosphate in the presence of 2.5mm-fructose, although the rates of cycling were actually decreased relative to the amount of glucose catabolized. 9. At concentrations of 2.5, 7.5 and 25mm, fructose depressed hepatocyte ATP concentrations by 20, 65 and 80% respectively. Although fructose at 7.5 and 25mm increased glucose and lactate release, O(2) consumption, production of heat and formation of(3)H(2)O from [1-(3)H]-, [2-(3)H]-, [3-(3)H]- or [6-(3)H]-glucose were lowered to values equal to, or less than, controls. These effects probably reflect a severe derangement of hepatic metabolism due to excess phosphorylation of fructose when present at high concentrations.

Studies on the biosynthesis of hepatic pyruvate kinase and its correlation with enhanced hepatic lipogenesis in meal-trained rats

Metabolic and enzymic changes were measured in meal-trained rats fed on high-carbohydrate diet. Rates of hepatic fatty acid synthesis are probably greater than rates of gluconeogenesis throughout the 24 h day provided that animals are fed. The daily enhancement of fatty acid synthesis on meal feeding coincided with the maximum activation of hepatic pyruvate kinase. Maximum activation of this enzyme was reflected in increased total catalytic activity (Vmax.), increased activity at 0.5 MM-phosphoenolpyruvate (V0.5), decreased Vmax./V0.5 ratio and a decrease in co-operativity of phosphoenolpyruvate binding as measured by the Hill coefficient (h). The latter changes are consistent with a decrease in enzyme phosphorylation during activation of the enzyme. To estimate changes in enzyme protein, quantitative enzyme precipitation with rabbit antisera was used. Giving a high-carbohydrate diet to meal-trained animals induced enzyme synthesis within a few hours. Adaptations in diet that enhanced fatty acid synthesis (chow to high carbohydrate; starved to high carbohydrate) led to an increased steady-state concentration of pyruvate kinase protein. An approximate estimate of the half-life of hepatic pyruvate kinase was 56 h. Whenever pyruvate kinase specific activity was measured in liver tissue extracts it was always considerably less (20--100 mumol/min per mg of protein, depending on dietary status) than the specific activity of pure pyruvate kinase (200 mumol/min per mg of protein). Antigenically active, catalytically inactive protein was removed during enzyme purification from cytosol at the stage of (NH4)2SO4 fractionation. The fraction precipitated by 30--45%-satd. (NH4)2SO4 was enzymically active, antigenically reacting protein was identified in the remaining (NH4)2SO4 fractions (0--30%- and 45--85%-satd.) and this contained no enzyme activity. These may correspond to inactive proteolytic fragments of pyruvate kinase. The rate-determining step in adjusting enzyme concentration seems to be proteolysis.

The effects of hypoglycin on glucose metabolism in the rat. A kinetic study in vivo and [U-14C,2-3H]glucose

1. The kinetics of glucose metabolism were evaluated in rats deprived of food 15-21 h after the administration of hypoglycaemic doses of hypoglycin (100 mg/kg body wt.) by following changes in the specific radioactivities of 14C and 3H in blood glucose after an intravenous dose of [U-14C,2-3H]glucose [Katz, Rostami & Dunn (1974) Biochem. J. 142, 161-170]. 2. During this time, recycling of glucose through the Cori cycle was virtually abolished, the rate of irreversible disposal of glucose and its total body mass were both decreased by about 70%, whereas there was little effect on the mean transit time for glucose. 3. It was concluded that hypoglycaemia is due to inhibition of gluconeogenesis.

Rates of glucose utilization and glucogenesis in rats in the basal state induced by halothane anaesthesia

1. Rates and rate coefficients of glucose utilization and replacement were determined with [5-3H]- and [U-14C]-glucose in rats starved for 24h, either conscious or under halothane anaesthesia, in a thermoneutral environment. Plasma insulin concentrations were also measured. 2. Halothane anaesthesia decreased the turnover rate by 20%, which was similar to previously reported decreases in metabolic rates caused by natural sleep. 3. Fractional recycling of glucose carbon was little affected by halothane. 4. Comparison of values in one rat with those in another, among both conscious rats and those under halothane anaesthesia, showed that rate coefficients were inversely correlated with plasma glucose concentrations. 5. These findings indicated that halothane, in the concentration used (1.25%, v/v), had little specific effect on glucose metabolism. 6. Although equilibrium plasma glucose concentrations in different rats under halothane were widely different (4-8 mmol/l) the rates of utilization were very similar (2.5-3.1 micronmol/min per 100 g), indicating that these rates were determined by the production of glucose from gluconeogenic precursors released by basal metabolism, the rate of which is necessarily similar in different rats. 7. Among rats under halothane anaesthesia plasma insulin concentrations were negatively correlated with rate coefficients, showing that the differences between rate coefficients were mostly accounted for by differences between rats in tissue sensitivities to insulin. Thus in each 24h-starved rat, sleeping or resting, the main regulators of the plasma glucose concentrations were the rate of supply of gluconeogenic substrates from energy metabolism and the intrinsic sensitivity of the tissues to insulin. 8. We found that a commonly used deionization method of purifying glucose for determination of its specific radioactivity was inadequate.

Glucose turnover in the young chicken (Gallus domesticus) using variously labeled (3H, U-14C) glucose tracers

1. Various parameters of glucose metabolism--glucose replacement rate, percent recycling, mean transit time, and glucose mass were examined using various double labeled glucose tracers--2T-, U-14C; 3T-, U-14C; 4T-, U-14C; 5T-, U14C; and 6T-, U-14C. 2. Estimates of replacement rate were greatest for 2T-glucose (21.4 mg/min/kg), with 3T-, 4T-, 5T-, and 6T-glucose all having similar values (15.8, 15.6, 17.0, 16.0 mg/min/kg, respectively). 3. Calculated glucose mass based on all tritiated tracers (734-1086 mg/kg body weight) agreed closely with a direct determination of body glucose (969 mg/kg). 4. Reincorporation of tritium from 3H2O into glucose did not occur to any significant degree. 5. The young chick was found to have a very rapid rate of glucose turnover and high percent recycling compared to mammals.

ATP utilization associated with recovery metabolism in anaerobic frog muscle

The ATP turnover during single isometric 0.5-, 1-, and 3-s tetani in anaerobic frog sartorii was measured at 20 degrees C. In parallel experiments, we measured the lactate production by sartorii during their metabolic recovery from such tetani. From these measurements, we obtained an experimental P/lactate ratio which was less than 1.5, the expected value for simple Embden-Meyerhof glycolysis when glycogen is metabolized to lactate. We interpreted these results as indicating a substantial amount of suprabasal ATP breakdown occurred during metabolic recovery. The operation of the fructose phosphate substrate cycle is suggested as a cause of this additional ATP breakdown.

Estimation of glucose turnover in rats in vivo with tritium labeled glucoses

Starved and starved-refed rats were injected intravenously with labelled glucose (a mixture of [2-3H]-, [3-3H]- and [U-14C]glucose with either [5-3H]- or [6-3H]glucose), and the decay of the specific activity of [14C]glucose followed. Glucose was degraded to obtain the 3H/14C ratios for 3 isotope combinations in the same sample. The apparent rates of replacements, apparent carbon recycling, and the body glucose mass were calculated for the different tracers. The 3H/14C ratio from [2-3H, -U-14C]glucose declined much faster than that of the other tracers. Apparent recycling as calculated in fasted rats was 28% for [2-3H, U-14C]- 18% for [5-3H,-U-14C]- 17% for [3-3H, U-14C]- and 14% for [6-3H,U-14C]glucoses. The values in fed rats showed a similar pattern. We estimate that in fasted rats 85 to 90% of the 3HOH liberated from injected [2-3H]glucose is formed by catabolism in the periphery and the rest by recycling in the liver between glucose and glucose 6-P. Detritiation of other labels by hepatic recycling accounts for a very small fraction of the total 3HOH yield.

The use of isotope turnover techniques in the study of carbohydrate metabolism in man

It now appears that the bulk of methodological, analytical and interpretative problems associated with the use of isotope turnover techniques for the study of carbohydrate metabolism in man are resolved. As illustrated by a number of examples of the use of these techniques for the assessment of carbohydrate metabolism they seem, to the author, to have been more critically useful in the resolution of questions of (a) mechanism of hormone and drug action and (b) of interactions between metabolites, than they have been in defining pathological states, although the volume of information that is being accumulated is sure to prove useful for future research. Although it is this author's opinion that the employment of the radioactive isotopes at the low levels allowed by todays technology does not impose an unreasonable risk to the research subject, the promise of increased sensitivity for the detection of stable isotopes and the promise of their increased availability in a wide variety of compounds are factors that are sure to provide impetus for the wider use of these most valuable techniques in medical research.

A Limulus glucose-6-phosphatase with phosphotransferase activity characteristic of vertebrate liver microsomes. Its possible evolutionary significance

1. Limulus hepatopancreas, coxal glands and intestine contain a particulate enzyme which can synthesize glucose 6-phosphate from glucose and inorganic pyrophosphate or carbamyl phosphate as well as hydrolyze glucose 6-phosphate. This has been clearly differentiated from hydrolysis by lysosomal or soluble phosphatases. 2. The enzyme resembles vertebrate glucose-6-phosphatase in its specific anatomical distribution, pH optimum, kinetic properties, donor specificity and phospholipid dependence, as indicated by its satency and lability to detergent treatment. 3. A variety of other invertebrates tested exhibited little or no PPi-glucose phosphotransferase activity with these properties. A similar phosphotransferase activity of lobster hepatopancreas had somewhat different kinetic properties and pH optimum. 4. The hypothesis that a specific glucose-6-phosphatase is to be found only in those animals which utilize free glucose as an important circulating form of energy is presented and discussed. It appears that a variety of transport compounds, such as trehalose and glucose, was tried at the evolutionary level of the Arthropods.