The influence of insulin on glucose and fatty acid metabolism in the isolated perfused rat hind quarter.

Glucose and fatty acid metabolism of resting skeletal muscle were studied by perfusion of the isolated rat hind leg with a hemoglobin-free medium. Tissue integrity was demonstrated by normal ATP, ADP and creatine phosphate levels, by a sufficient oxygen supply, and by a normal appearance of perfused muscle specimens under the electron microscope. The rates of glucose and fatty acid uptake, and of lactate, alanine, glycerol and fatty acid release were constant over a perfusion period of 60 min. Insulin (1 unit/l) caused a more than threefold increase in glucose uptake, a stimulation of lactate production, and a 20% increase in the muscular glycogen levels. Fatty acids and alanine release were significantly diminished by insulin, but glycerol release did not change. The uptake of oleate by the rat hind leg was dependent on the medium concentration in a range of 0.7-1.9mM oleate, and was stimulated by insulin. Glucose uptake was not influenced by oleate, whether sodium was present or not. When the leg was perfused with [1-14C]oleate, 75% of the incorporated fatty acids were found in muscle lipids, 10% were oxidized to CO2, and 5% were recovered in bone lipids. The absolute amount of oleate oxidation was not altered by insulin. In all experiments with and without glucose in the medium, 70-80% of the 14C label incorporated into muscle lipids was found in the triglyceride fraction. In the presence of glucose, insulin significantly increased the incorporation of [1-14C]oleate into muscle triglycerides, whereas no insulin effect, either on fatty acid uptake or on triglyceride formation, could be observed when glucose was omitted from the perfusate. The present results indicate that a "glucose-fatty acid cycle" as found in rat heart muscle does not operate in resting peripheral skeletal muscle tissue. They also demonstrate that the stimulating effect of insulin on muscular fatty acid uptake and triglyceride synthesis is dependent on glucose supply. This finding can be intrepreted as a stimulation of fatty acid esterification by sn-glycerol 3-phosphate derived from an increased glucose turnover, which is in turn due to insulin.     

Catecholamine-ouabain interaction on the isolated perfused rat heart.

The effect of catecholamine-depleting pretreatments, reserpine, and 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OH-DA) on left ventricular pressure (LVP) and the inotropic response to graded doses of ouabain (up to 300 mug/0.05 ml) was studied in isolated perfused rat and guinea-pig hearts. In rats, reserpine and 6-OH-DA depleted the cardiac content of catecholamine, but did not increase initial LVP and did not reduce the inotropic response to the highest dose of ouabain. It is concluded that in isolated rat hearts, these catecholamine-depleting pretreatments nearly abolish the inotropic response to ouabain, and this effect appears to be mediated mainly through an increase in initial LVP. The reason why catecholamine depletion failed to increase initial LVP in guinea pigs remains unexplained.     

Carnitine stimulation of glucose oxidation in the fatty acid perfused isolated working rat heart.

The effects of L-carnitine on myocardial glycolysis, glucose oxidation, and palmitate oxidation were determined in isolated working rat hearts. Hearts were perfused under aerobic conditions with perfusate containing either 11 mM [2-3H/U-14C]glucose in the presence or absence of 1.2 mM palmitate or 11 mM glucose and 1.2 mM [1-14C]palmitate. Myocardial carnitine levels were elevated by perfusing hearts with 10 mM L-carnitine. A 60-min perfusion period resulted in significant increases in total myocardial carnitine from 4376 +/- 211 to 9496 +/- 473 nmol/g dry weight. Glycolysis (measured as 3H2O production) was unchanged in carnitine-treated hearts perfused in the absence of fatty acids (4418 +/- 300 versus 4547 +/- 600 nmol glucose/g dry weight.min). If 1.2 mM palmitate was present in the perfusate, glycolysis decreased almost 2-fold compared with hearts perfused in the absence of fatty acids. In carnitine-treated hearts this drop in glycolysis did not occur (glycolytic rates were 2911 +/- 231 to 4629 +/- 460 nmol glucose/g dry weight.min, in control and carnitine-treated hearts, respectively. Compared with control hearts, glucose oxidation rates (measured as 14CO2 production from [U-14C]glucose) were unaltered in carnitine-treated hearts perfused in the absence of fatty acids (1819 +/- 169 versus 2026 +/- 171 nmol glucose/g dry weight.min, respectively). In the presence of 1.2 mM palmitate, glucose oxidation decreased dramatically in control hearts (11-fold). In carnitine-treated hearts, however, glucose oxidation was significantly greater than control hearts under these conditions (158 +/- 21 to 454 +/- 85 nmol glucose/g dry weight.min, in control and carnitine-treated hearts, respectively). Palmitate oxidation rates (measured as 14CO2 production from [1-14C]palmitate) decreased in the carnitine-treated hearts from 728 +/- 61 to 572 +/- 111 nmol palmitate/g dry weight.min. This probably occurred secondary to an increase in overall ATP production from glucose oxidation (from 5.4 to 14.5% of steady state myocardial ATP production). The results reported in this study provide direct evidence that carnitine can stimulate glucose oxidation in the intact fatty acid perfused heart. This probably occurs secondary to facilitating the intramitochondrial transfer of acetyl groups from acetyl-CoA to acetylcarnitine, thereby relieving inhibition of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.     

The effect of zinc on reperfusion arrhythmias in the isolated perfused rat heart

Considerable evidence suggests that free radicals engendered by redox-active metals, particularly iron and copper, are causative agents in reperfusion injury following ischemia. This study demonstrates that perfusion of the isolated rat heart with a buffer containing zinc, a non-redox active metal similar to copper in its coordination chemistry, inhibits the development of ventricular arrhythmias during reperfusion. Zinc was employed as the bishistidine complex, Zn--His2, to maintain solubility and permeability. Zn--His2 exerted an antiarrhythmic activity as hearts spent a longer time in normal sinus rhythm and a shorter time in ventricular fibrillation during reperfusion following 10 min of regional ischemia. However, Zn--His2 also produced a negative inotropic and chronotropic effect, evident during equilibration and ischemia. In the course of experiments which began in Israel and continued in the U.S. it was necessary to use two different sources of rats. Hearts from the two sources manifested different sensitivities to the concentrations of Zn--His2, although their physiological effects were similar. Differential activity responses were noted for antiarrhythmic activity, negative inotropic and chronotropic properties, and toxicity. In both groups of untreated hearts the incidence of ventricular fibrillation after ischemia was 100%. Ventricular fibrillation was reduced to 17% at 37.5 microM Zn--His2 in the U.S.-bred rat hearts and to 9% at 200 microM Zn--His2 in those from Israel. These changes in Zn--His2 treated animals were accompanied by a decrease in lactate dehydrogenase release from the myocardium during reperfusion. None of the protective effects was due to histidine alone. These results indicate that zinc prevents ventricular arrhythmias during reperfusion following regional ischemia and may prevent membrane damage, possibly, by reduction of free radical formation.     

Effects of insulin on the metabolism of the isolated working rat heart perfused with undiluted rat blood

Working rat hearts were perfused with either buffer or with defibrinated, undiluted rat blood dialyzed to remove vasoconstrictor factors. With precautions taken for sterility in the preparation of the perfusate and the apparatus, hearts were obtained which were stable as judged by stroke rate and cardiac output. In these hearts, cardiac output and coronary flow averaged 46.0 and 1.7 ml/g heart per min, respectively. Perfusion with erythrocyte-free buffer depressed cardiac output by 30%, while coronary flow averaged 8.8 ml/g of heart per min. The mean stroke rate of blood-perfused hearts was 300 beats/min but only 240 beats/min during buffer perfusion. In blood-perfused hearts, insulin did not alter stroke rate but significantly lowered coronary flow. The hormone caused a transient increase in cardiac output in hearts perfused with buffer. Insulin did not alter glucose uptake in buffer-perfused hearts but increased lactate release in perfusions with blood. Both serum fatty acids and triacylglycerol fatty acids were significant metabolic fuels in hearts perfused with undiluted blood. The preparation described would appear to be potentially useful for the study of myocardial metabolism in vitro.     

Glucagon and insulin control of gluconeogenesis in the perfused isolated rat liver. Effects on cellular metabolite distribution.

The metabolic effects of glucagon and glucagon plus insulin on the isolated rat livers perfused with 10 mM sodium L-lactate as substrate were studied. Glucagon stimulated gluconeogenesis, ketogenesis and ureogenesis at the concentration used of 2.1 nM. The addition of insulin to give a glucagon-to-insulin ratio of 0.2 reversed all the glucagon effects. The glucagon enhancement of gluconeogenesis was accompanied by a rise in cytosolic and mitochondrial state of reduction of the NAD system and a fall in the [ATP]/[ADP] ratio. The analysis of the intermediary metabolite concentrations suggested, as possible sites of glucagon action, the steps between pyruvate and phosphoenolpyruvate as well as the reactions catalyzed by phosphofructokinase and/or fructose bisphosphatase. All the changes in metabolite contents were abolished when insulin was present. Glucagon increased the intramitochondrial concentration of all the metabolites, whose intracellular distribution was calculated. The finding of a significant rise in the calculated intramitochondrial concentration of oxaloacetate points to pyruvate carboxylation as an important site of glucagon interaction with the gluconeogenic pathway. A primary event in the glucagon action redistributing intracellular metabolites seems to be the mitochondrial entry of malate. The possibility is discussed that the changes in metabolite cellular distribution were brought about by the increased cellular state of reduction caused by the hormone.     

The effect of K+ concentration on the energy metabolism in perfused rat heart

From experiments at various perfusion pressures in hemoglobin-free perfused rat hearts, oxygen consumption and redox shift of pyridine nucleotide were found to vary linearly with cardiac work. This relation was used for analysis of the energy metabolism associated with ion pumps. Mechanical activities such as left ventricular pressure and heart rate varied with the extracellular K+ concentration. Ion-pump dependent changes in oxygen consumption and redox state of pyridine nucleotide, estimated as the difference of the values at normal (4.7 mM) and various other extracellular K+ concentrations with corrections for the change due to mechanical work, were found to vary linearly with the K+ concentration. The slope for oxygen consumption was about 0.1 mumol/min/g X wet wt per mM K+. Lactate release changed markedly but transiently, about 1 min after changing the extracellular K+ concentration, and its amount varied linearly with the K+ concentration. In the steady state, however, lactate release was almost independent of the extracellular K+ concentration, although oxidized pyridine nucleotide increased with increasing K+ concentration. Coronary flow increased with the extracellular K+ concentration. Heart rate changed little between 1 and 12 mM K+, but decreased sharply above 12 mM K+. At 20 mM K+, heart beat was arrested and approximately 40% of myoglobin was deoxygenated. The intracellular oxygen concentration was estimated to be about 10 microM even during aerobic perfusion. Similarly, Ca2+-free arrested heart was found to be in a hypoxic state. The results showed that oxygen entry into cardiac tissue is facilitated by the cardiac cycle.     

The effects of glucose, acetate, lactate and insulin on protein degradation in the perfused rat heart.

Rat hearts were perfused as working preparations by the method of Taegtmeyer, Hems & Krebs [(1980 Biochem. J. 186, 701--711]. In the presence of glucose, insulin significantly inhibited protein degradation at concentrations as low as 50 mu units/ml. Acetate or lactate, when present either as sole fuel for contraction or in combination with glucose, did not inhibit protein degradation. Insulin inhibition or protein degradation was decreased with either lactate as sole fuel. We suggest that the inhibition of protein degradation occurs over the normal range of plasma concentrations of insulin present in vivo and that the presence of glucose may be at least in part necessary for this effect of insulin.