AMPK activation with AICAR provokes an acute fall in plasma [K+

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), activated by an increase in intracellular AMP-to-ATP ratio, stimulates pathways that can restore ATP levels. We tested the hypothesis that AMPK activation influences extracellular fluid (ECF) K(+) homeostasis. In conscious rats, AMPK was activated with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-d-ribofuranoside (AICAR) infusion: 38.4 mg x kg bolus then 4 mg x kg(-1) x min(-1) infusion. Plasma K(+)] and glucose] both dropped at 1 h of AICAR infusion and K(+)] dropped to 3.3 +/- 0.04 mM by 3 h, linearly related to the increase in muscle AMPK phosphorylation. AICAR treatment did not increase urinary K(+) excretion. AICAR lowered K(+)] whether plasma K(+)] was chronically elevated or lowered. The K(+) infusion rate needed to maintain baseline plasma K(+)] reached 15.7 +/- 1.3 micromol K(+) x kg(-1) x min(-1) between 120 and 180 min AICAR infusion. In mice expressing a dominant inhibitory form of AMPK in the muscle (Tg-KD1), baseline K(+)] was not different from controls (4.2 +/- 0.1 mM), but the fall in plasma K(+)] in response to AICAR (0.25 g/kg) was blunted: K(+)] fell to 3.6 +/- 0.1 in controls and to 3.9 +/- 0.1 mM in Tg-KD1, suggesting that ECF K(+) redistributes, at least in part, to muscle ICF. In summary, these findings illustrate that activation of AMPK activity with AICAR provokes a significant fall in plasma K(+)] and suggest a novel mechanism for redistributing K(+) from ECF to ICF.