The oxidation of [3-13C]pyruvate and [3-13C]propionate was studied in vivo in infused rats. The infused [3-13C]pyruvate was quickly converted to [3-13C]lactate in the blood, and the [3-13C]lactate formed was well metabolized in both normoxic and ischaemic hearts. Large differences (200-600%) in the 13C enrichment of alanine (C-3) and acetyl-CoA (C-2) compared with lactate (C-3) were found in both normoxic and ischaemic hearts, suggesting that the extracellular [3-13C]lactate preferentially entered a region of the cytoplasm which specifically transfers the labelled pyruvate (formed from [3-13C]lactate) to the mitochondria. The highly enriched mitochondrial pyruvate gave high enrichment in alanine and acetyl-CoA, which was detected by 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. Ischaemia increased 13C incorporation into the main cytoplasmic lactate pool and decreased 13C incorporation into citric acid cycle intermediates, mainly decreasing the pyruvate anaplerosis. Isoprenaline-induced ischaemia of the heart caused only a slight decrease in pyruvate oxidation. In contrast to the decreased anaplerosis of pyruvate, the anaplerosis of propionate (and propionyl-carnitine) increased significantly in ischaemic hearts, which may contribute to the protective effect of propionyl-carnitine seen in ischaemia. In addition, we found that [3-13C]propionate preferentially labelled aspartate C-3 in rat heart, suggesting incomplete randomization of label in the succinyl-CoA-malate span of the citric acid cycle. These data show that proton observed 13C edited spectroscopic methods, i.e. heteronuclear spin-echo and the one-dimensional heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence sequence, can be successfully used to study heart metabolism in vivo.
Evaluation of carbon flux and substrate selection through alternate pathways involving the citric acid cycle of the heart by 13C NMR spectroscopy.