Relations between fatty acid synthesis,pyruvate concentration and cell concentration of suspensions of isolated rat hepatocytes

• 1.1. The cell concentration of suspensions of isolated rat hepatocytes affects both the rate of pyruvate accumulation in the incubation medium and the rate of fatty acid synthesis.
• 2.2. At low cell concentrations pyruvate accumulation is directly related to the cell concentration but levels off at higher concentrations even when maximum pyruvate concentrations in the medium are not yet reached.
• 3.3. The rate of fatty acid synthesis in the 30–60-min incubation interval is proportional to the cell concentration. In contrast, the rate of fatty acid synthesis during the 0–30-min incubation period decreases with increasing cell concentrations and subsequently becomes independent of the cell concentration.