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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 294/1/E88    most recent 00178.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Schummer, C. M. Articles by Herling, A. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Schummer, C. M. Articles by Herling, A. W.

Dysregulated pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in Zucker diabetic fatty rats

¹Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland, Frankfurt, Germany; and ²Department of Biochemistry, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York

Submitted 21 March 2007 ; accepted in final form 6 October 2007

The mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) is inactivated in many tissues during starvation and diabetes. We investigated carbohydrate oxidation (CHO) and the regulation of the PDC in lean and obese Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats during fed and starved conditions as well as during an oral glucose load without and with pharmacologically reduced levels of free fatty acids (FFA) to estimate the relative contribution of FFA on glucose tolerance, CHO, and PDC activity. The increase in total PDC activity (20–45%) was paralleled by increased protein levels (2-fold) of PDC subunits in liver and muscle of obese ZDF rats. Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-4 (PDK4) protein levels were higher in obese rats, and consequently PDC activity was reduced. Although PDK4 protein levels were rapidly downregulated (57–62%) in both lean and obese animals within 2 h after glucose challenge, CHO over 3 h as well as the peak of PDC activity (1 h after glucose load) in liver and muscle were significantly lower in obese rats compared with lean rats. Similar differences were obtained with pharmacologically suppressed FFA by nicotinic acid, but with significantly improved glucose tolerance in obese rats, as well as increased CHO and delta increases in PDC activity (0–60 min) both in muscle and liver. These results demonstrated the suppressive role of FFA acids on the measured parameters. Furthermore, the results clearly demonstrate a rapid reactivation of PDC in liver and muscle of lean and obese rats after a glucose load and show that PDC activity is significantly lower in obese ZDF rats.

glucose oxidation; glucose tolerance test; insulin resistance; diabetes; pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-4