Showing papers on "Glycolysis published in 1994"

Mechanisms of fatty acid-induced inhibition of glucose uptake.

Abstract: Increased plasma FFA reduce insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. The mechanisms responsible for this inhibition, however, remain uncertain. It was the aim of this study to determine whether the FFA effect was dose dependent and to investigate its mechanism. We have examined in healthy volunteers (13 male/1 female) the effects of three steady state plasma FFA levels (approximately 50, approximately 550, approximately 750 microM) on rates of glucose uptake, glycolysis (both with 3-3H-glucose), glycogen synthesis (determined with two independent methods), carbohydrate (CHO) oxidation (by indirect calorimetry), hepatic glucose output, and nonoxidative glycolysis (glycolysis minus CHO oxidation) during euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamping. Increasing FFA concentration (from approximately 50 to approximately 750 microM) decreased glucose uptake in a dose-dependent fashion (from approximately 9 to approximately 4 mg/kg per min). The decrease was caused mainly (approximately 2/3) by a reduction in glycogen synthesis and to a lesser extent (approximately 1/3) by a reduction in CHO oxidation. We have identified two independent defects in glycogen synthesis. The first consisted of an impairment of muscle glycogen synthase activity. It required high FFA concentration (approximately 750 microM), was associated with an increase in glucose-6-phosphate, and developed after 4-6 h of fat infusion. The second defect, which preceded the glycogen synthase defect, was seen at medium (approximately 550 microM) FFA concentration, was associated with a decrease in muscle glucose-6-phosphate concentration, and was probably due to a reduction in glucose transport/phosphorylation. In addition, FFA and/or glycerol increased insulin-suppressed hepatic glucose output by approximately 50%. We concluded that fatty acids caused a dose-dependent inhibition of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake (by decreasing glycogen synthesis and CHO oxidation) and that FFA and/or glycerol increased insulin-suppressed hepatic glucose output and thus caused insulin resistance at the peripheral and the hepatic level.

Contribution of oxidative metabolism and glycolysis to ATP production in hypertrophied hearts

Abstract: The contribution of glycolysis and oxidative metabolism to ATP production was determined in isolated working hypertrophied hearts perfused with Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 3% albumin, 0.4 mM ...

Short-term control of glucokinase activity: role of a regulatory protein.

Abstract: Glucokinase is one of the four hexokinases present in mammalian tissues. It is expressed in two cell types that have to respond to changes in the blood glucose concentration, the liver parenchymal cell and the beta-cells of pancreatic islets. The former are responsible for the metabolism and storage of an important part of the ingested glucose, whereas the latter secrete insulin in response to an increase in the blood glucose level. One major characteristic of glucokinase is that it has a relatively low affinity for glucose and displays positive cooperativity for this substrate, despite the fact that it is a monomeric enzyme. Furthermore, unlike other hexokinases, it is not inhibited by micromolar (physiological) concentrations of glucose 6-phosphate but by a regulatory protein that transduces the effect of fructose 6-phosphate and of fructose 1-phosphate. The purpose of this review is to describe these aspects of the regulation of glucokinase.

Glucose fatty acid interactions and the regulation of glucose disposal

Abstract: Glucose is essential for the energy metabolism of some cells and conservation of glucose is obligatory for survival during starvation. The principal site of this glucose conservation is the mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex, which is regulated by reversible phosphorylation (phosphorylation is inactivating). In cells in which glucose oxidation is switched off during starvation, fatty acids are used as fuel, and acetyl CoA and NADH formed by beta-oxidation promote phosphorylation of PDH complex by activation of PDH kinase. A longer-term mechanism further increases PDH kinase activity in response to cAMP and products of beta-oxidation of fatty acids. Coordinated inhibition of glycolytic flux mediated by effects of citrate on PFK1 and PFK2 in muscles and liver results in an associated inhibition of glucose uptake. Similar mechanisms lead to impaired glucose oxidation in diabetes.

Transcriptional control of metabolic regulation genes by carbohydrates.

Abstract: Glucose can modulate the transcription of many genes, particularly those encoding enzymes of liver metabolism. The transcriptional effect of glucose can be indirect, being mediated in vivo by hormonal variations, especially increase in insulin and decrease in glucagon secretion. Whereas the transcription of the glucokinase gene, for example, is stimulated by insulin without the aid of glucose, the transcriptional activation of most glycolytic and lipogenic genes in hepatocytes requires the presence of both glucose and insulin. The role of insulin in the activation of these genes seems mainly to stimulate glucokinase synthesis, and thus to permit glucose phosphorylation. In some cells in which hexokinase activity is constitutive, the glucose-dependent activation of the same genes does not require insulin and, in addition, can be produced by the nonmetabolisable analog, 2-deoxyglucose. In hepatocytes, the insulin effect on the glucose-dependent activation of the L-pyruvate kinase gene can be reproduced by f...

ATP depletion rather than mitochondrial depolarization mediates hepatocyte killing after metabolic inhibition

Abstract: The importance of ATP depletion and mitochondrial depolarization in the toxicity of cyanide, oligomycin, and carbonyl cyanide m-cholorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), an uncoupler, was evaluated in rat hepatocytes. Oligomycin, an inhibitor of the reversible mitochondrial ATP synthase (F1F0-adenosinetriphosphatase), caused dose-dependent cell killing with 0.1 microgram/ml being the minimum concentration causing the maximum cell killing. Oligomycin also caused rapid ATP depletion without causing mitochondrial depolarization. Fructose (20 mM), a potent glycolytic substrate in liver, protected completely against oligomycin toxicity. CCCP (5 microM) also caused rapid killing of hepatocytes. Fructose retarded cell death caused by CCCP but failed to prevent lethal cell injury. Although oligomycin (1.0 microgram/ml) was lethally toxic by itself, in the presence of fructose it protected completely against CCCP-induced cell killing. Cyanide (2.5 mM), an inhibitor of mitochondrial respiration, caused rapid cell killing that was reversed by fructose. CCCP completely blocked fructose protection against cyanide, causing mitochondrial depolarization and rapid ATP depletion. In the presence of fructose and cyanide, oligomycin protected cells against CCCP-induced ATP depletion and cell death but did not prevent mitochondrial depolarization. In every instance, cell killing was associated with ATP depletion, whereas protection against lethal cell injury was associated with preservation of ATP. In conclusion, protection by fructose against toxicity of cyanide, oligomycin, and CCCP was mediated by glycolytic ATP formation rather than by preservation of the mitochondrial membrane potential. These findings support the hypothesis that inhibition of cellular ATP formation is a crucial event in the progression of irreversible cell injury.

Regulation of Clostridium acetobutylicum metabolism as revealed by mixed-substrate steady-state continuous cultures: role of NADH/NAD ratio and ATP pool.

Abstract: Glycerol-glucose-fed (molar ratio of 2) chemostat cultures of Clostridium acetobutylicum were glucose limited but glycerol sufficient and had a high intracellular NADH/NAD ratio (I. Vasconcelos, L. Girbal, and P. Soucaille, J. Bacteriol. 176:1443-1450, 1994). We report here that the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, one of the key enzymes of the glycolytic pathway, is inhibited by high NADH/NAD ratios. Partial substitution of glucose by pyruvate while maintaining glycerol concentration at a constant level allowed a higher consumption of glycerol in steady-state continuous cultures. However, glycerol-sufficient cultures had a constant flux through the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and a constant NADH/NAD ratio. A high substitution of glucose by pyruvate [P/(G+P) value of 0.67 g/g] provided a carbon-limited culture with butanol and butyrate as the major end products. In this alcohologenic culture, the induction of the NADH-dependent butyraldehyde and the ferredoxin-NAD(P) reductases and the higher expression of alcohol dehydrogenases were related to a high NADH/NAD ratio and a low intracellular ATP concentration. In three different steady-state cultures, the in vitro phosphotransbutyrylase and butyrate-kinase activities decreased with the intracellular ATP concentration, suggesting a transcriptional regulation of these two genes, which are arranged in an operon (K. A. Walter, R. V. Nair, R. V. Carry, G. N. Bennett, and E. T. Papoutsakis, Gene 134:107-111, 1993).

Effects of lactate and pyruvate on glucose deprivation in rat hippocampal slices.

Abstract: Rat hippocampal slices were used to evaluate the effects of glucose deprivation and the ability of lactate or pyruvate to preserve histological integrity and synaptic function. Dark cell changes were observed during 180 min incubations in glucose-free solutions. These changes were blocked by substituting 10 mM lactate or pyruvate for glucose during the incubation. Excitatory postsynaptic potentials disappeared during 60 min of glucose deprivation but were restored by subsequent introduction of glucose, lactate or pyruvate. Incubation of slices with iodoacetate revealed a distinct pattern of damage that was blocked completely by pyruvate and partially by lactate. These results indicate that exogenous pyruvate and lactate can serve as energy substrates in the hippocampus when glucose is unavailable or glycolytic metabolism is impaired.

Myocardial protection after whole body heat stress in the rabbit is dependent on metabolic substrate and is related to the amount of the inducible 70-kD heat stress protein.

Abstract: The aims of this study were to examine the effects of whole body heat stress and subsequent stress protein induction on glycolytic metabolism, mitochondrial metabolism, and calcium handling within the heart. The effect of heat stress on glycolytic and mitochondrial pathways was examined by measuring contractile performance in the presence of glucose and pyruvate, respectively. Calcium handling was assessed using force-interval relationships. Right ventricular papillary muscles taken from heat-stressed and control rabbit hearts were superfused with Kreb's solution containing either glucose or pyruvate and rendered hypoxic for 30 min. After reoxygenation, the greatest recovery of contractile function occurred in the heat-stressed muscles with pyruvate as substrate; there was, however, no difference in the force-interval relationship between the groups. The degree of contractile recovery was related to the content of the inducible 70-kD but not the 65-kD, heat stress protein. This study suggests that heat stress enhances the ability of rabbit papillary muscle to use pyruvate, but not glucose, after reoxygenation, and that the differences seen in contractility may be secondary to induction of the 72-kD stress protein.

Bacillus subtilis F0F1 ATPase: DNA sequence of the atp operon and characterization of atp mutants.

Abstract: We cloned and sequenced an operon of nine genes coding for the subunits of the Bacillus subtilis F0F1 ATP synthase. The arrangement of these genes in the operon is identical to that of the atp operon from Escherichia coli and from three other Bacillus species. The deduced amino acid sequences of the nine subunits are very similar to their counterparts from other organisms. We constructed two B. subtilis strains from which different parts of the atp operon were deleted. These B. subtilis atp mutants were unable to grow with succinate as the sole carbon and energy source. ATP was synthesized in these strains only by substrate-level phosphorylation. The two mutants had a decreased growth yield (43 and 56% of the wild-type level) and a decreased growth rate (61 and 66% of the wild-type level), correlating with a twofold decrease of the intracellular ATP/ADP ratio. In the absence of oxidative phosphorylation, B. subtilis increased ATP synthesis through substrate-level phosphorylation, as shown by the twofold increase of by-product formation (mainly acetate). The increased turnover of glycolysis in the mutant strain presumably led to increased synthesis of NADH, which would account for the observed stimulation of the respiration rate associated with an increase in the expression of genes coding for respiratory enzymes. It therefore appears that B. subtilis and E. coli respond in similar ways to the absence of oxidative phosphorylation.

Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids interfere with the insulin/glucose activation of L-type pyruvate kinase gene transcription.

Abstract: L-type pyruvate kinase (L-PK) is a key glycolytic enzyme regulating the flux of metabolites through the pyruvate-phosphoenolpyruvate cycle (1). The regulation of L-PK is complex involving both hormones and nutrients. We have found that feeding rats diets containing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) significantly inhibits hepatic pyruvate kinase enzyme activity (> 60%) and suppresses mRNAPK abundance (> 70%). Studies with primary hepatocytes indicate that PUFA act directly on hepatocytes. Specifically, arachidonic (20:4, omega 6) and eicosapentaenoic (20:5, omega 3) acid suppressed both mRNAPK llevels and the activity of a transfected PKCAT (-4300/+12) fusion gene by > 70%. This is due to an inhibition of the insulin/glucose-mediated transactivation of L-PKCAT. Deletion analysis localized PUFA-regulated cis-acting elements to a region within the L-PK proximal promoter, i.e. between -197 and -96 base pairs. This region binds two transcription factors involved in the hormone/nutrient regulation of L-PK gene transcription, i.e. a major late transcription factor-like factor and HNF-4. Linker scanning mutation analysis localized the PUFA-regulated cis-acting elements to the vicinity of the HNF-4 binding site. Thus, PUFA-regulated factors abrogate the insulin/glucose activation of L-PK gene transcription by targeting the HNF-4 elements. These studies suggest that PUFA may have significant effects on hepatic carbohydrate metabolism by inhibiting the L-PK side of the pyruvate-phosphoenolpyruvate cycle.

Differential Transcript Levels of Genes Associated with Glycolysis and Alcohol Fermentation in Rice Plants (Oryza sativa L.) under Submergence Stress.

Abstract: Expression of genes encoding enzymes involved in specialized metabolic pathways is assumed to be regulated coordinately to maintain homeostasis in plant cells. We analyzed transcript levels of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genes associated with glycolysis and alcohol fermentation under submergence stress. When each transcript was quantified at several times, two types (I and II) of mRNA accumulation were observed in response to submergence stress. Transcripts of type I genes reached a maximum after 24 h of submergence and were reduced by transfer to aerobic conditions or by partial exposure of shoot tips to air. In a submergence-tolerant rice cultivar, transcript amounts of several type I genes, such as glucose phosphate isomerase, phosphofructokinase, glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase, and enolase, increased significantly compared to an intolerant cultivar after 24 h of submergence. This suggests that the mRNA accumulation of type I genes increases in response to anaerobic stress. mRNA accumulation of type II genes, such as aldolase and pyruvate kinase, reached a maximum after 10 h of submergence. Following transfer to aerobic conditions, their transcript levels were not so rapidly decreased as were type I genes. These results suggest that the mRNA levels of genes engaged in glycolysis and alcohol fermentation may be regulated differentially under submergence stress.

Intermediate metabolism in Trypanosoma cruzi.

Abstract: Epimastigotes ofTrypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, catabolize proteins and amino acids with production of NH3, and glucose with production of reduced catabolites, chiefly succinate andl-alanine, even under aerobic conditions. This “aerobic fermentation of glucose” is probably due to both the presence of low levels of some cytochromes, causing a relative inefficiency of the respiratory chain for NADH reoxidation during active glucose catabolism, and the lack of NADH dehydrogenase and phosphorylation site I, resulting in the entry of reduction equivalents into the chain mostly as succinate. Phosphoenol pyruvate carboxykinase and pyruvate kinase may play an essential role in diverting glucose carbon to succinate orl-alanine, andl-malate seems to be the major metabolite for the transport of glucose carbon and reduction equivalents between glycosome and mitochondrion. The parasite contains proteinase and peptidase activities. The major lysosomal cysteine proteinase, cruzipain, has been characterized in considerable detail, and might be involved in the host/parasite relationship, in addition to its obvious role in parasite nutrition. Among the enzymes of amino acid catabolism, two glutamate dehydrogenases (one NADP- and the other NAD-linked), alanine aminotransferase, and the major enzymes of aromatic amino acid catabolism (tyrosine aminotransferase and aromatic α-hydroxy acid dehydrogenase), have been characterized and proposed to be involved in the reoxidation of glycolytic NADH.

Metabolic Control of Anaerobic Glycolysis (Overexpression of Lactate Dehydrogenase in Transgenic Tomato Roots Supports the Davies-Roberts Hypothesis and Points to a Critical Role for Lactate Secretion.

Abstract: Roots of all plants examined so far have the potential for both ethanol and lactate fermentation. A short burst of lactate fermentation usually occurs when plant tissues are transferred from normoxic to anoxic conditions. According to the Davies-Roberts hypothesis, the consequent pH drop both initiates ethanol fermentation and blocks further production of lactate by inhibiting lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). However, the role of LDH in this pH control mechanism is still a matter of debate. To perturb the control system in a defined way, a barley LDH cDNA under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter was introduced into tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv VFMT) using Agrobacterium rhizogenes. The transgenic root clones expressed up to 50 times the LDH activity of controls. The fermentative metabolism of these clones was compared using roots grown previously in normoxic conditions or roots given a 3-d hypoxic pretreatment. During the transition from normoxia to anoxia, lactate accumulation was no faster and no more extensive in transgenic roots than in controls. Similarly, during prolonged anoxia the flux of 14C from [U-14C] glucose to lactate and ethanol was not modified by the expression of the transgene. However, in both transgenic and control roots, hypoxic pretreatment increased the flux to lactate and promoted lactate export to the medium. These results show that LDH has a very low flux control coefficient for lactate fermentation, consistent with the Davies-Roberts hypothesis. Moreover, they suggest that lactate secretion exerts major control over long-term lactate glycolysis in vivo.

The 1993 Merck Frosst Award. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase: an important regulator of fatty acid oxidation in the heart.

Abstract: It has long been known that most of the energy production in the heart is derived from the oxidation of fatty acids. The other important sources of energy are the oxidation of carbohydrates and, to a lesser extent, ATP production from glycolysis. The contribution of these pathways to overall ATP production can vary dramatically, depending to a large extent on the carbon substrate profile delivered to the heart, as well as the presence or absence of underlying pathology within the myocardium. Despite extensive research devoted to the study of the individual pathways of energy substrate metabolism, relatively few studies have examined the integrated regulation between carbohydrate and fatty acid oxidation in the heart. While the mechanisms by which fatty acids inhibit carbohydrate oxidation (i.e., the Randle cycle) have been characterized, much less is known about how carbohydrates regulate fatty acid oxidation in the heart. It is clear that an increase in intramitochondrial acetyl-CoA derived from carbohyd...

Defective regulation of energy metabolism in mdx-mouse skeletal muscles.

Abstract: Our previous finding of a reduced energy metabolism in slow- and fast-twitch skeletal muscle fibres from the murine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (the mdx mouse) led us to examine the importance of intracellular glucose availability for a normal energy turnover. To this end, basal and KCl-stimulated (20.9 mM total extracellular K+) rates of glucose uptake (GUP) and heat production were measured in isolated, glucose-incubated (5 mM) soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles from mdx and control C57B1/10 mice, in the presence and in the absence of insulin (1.7 nM). Under all conditions and for both muscle types, glucose uptake values for mdx and control muscles were similar although heat production was lower in mdx muscles. The marked stimulation of GUP by insulin in both mdx and control muscles had only minor effects on heat production. In contrast, glucose deprivation or inhibition of glycolysis with 2-deoxy-D-glucose (5 mM) significantly decreased heat production in control muscles only, which attenuated, although did not suppress, the difference in basal heat production between mdx and control muscles. Stimulation of heat production by a short-chain fatty acid salt (octanoate, 2 mM) was significantly less marked in mdx than in control muscles. Increased cytoplasmic synthesis of CoA by addition of 5 mM pantothenate (vitamin B5) increased the thermogenic response to glucose more in mdx than in control muscles. We conclude that the low energy turnover in mdx-mouse muscle fibres is not due to a decrease of intracellular glucose availability, but rather to a decreased oxidative utilization of glucose and free fatty acids. We suggest that some enzyme complex of the tricarboxylic acid cycle or inefficiency of CoA transport in the mitochondria could be involved.

Nitric oxide and energy production in articular chondrocytes

Abstract: Addition of human, recombinant interleukin-1 beta (hrIL-1 beta) to cultures of lapine articular chondrocytes provoked a delayed increase in the production of both nitric oxide (NO) and lactate. These two phenomena followed a similar time course and shared a parallel dose-response sensitivity to hrIL-1 beta. A causal relationship is suggested by the ability of N-monomethyl-L-arginine (NMA), an inhibitor of NO synthase, to blunt the glycolytic response to hrIL-1 beta. Furthermore, addition of S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), which spontaneously generates NO in culture, increased lactate production to the same degree as IL-1. However, 8-Br-cGMP and isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX) had no effect either in the presence or absence of IL-1. Even under standard, aerobic, cell culture conditions, chondrocytes consumed little oxygen, either in the presence or absence of IL-1 or NMA. Furthermore, cyanide at concentrations up to 100 microM had no effect upon NO synthesis or lactate production. Thus, the increases in glycolysis under study were not secondary to reduced mitochondrial activity. Although cells treated with IL-1 had increased rates of glycolysis, their concentrations of ATP fell below those of untreated chondrocytes in a time-dependent, but NMA-independent, manner. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and synovial cytokines (CAF) also increased lactate production. However, TGF-beta failed to induce NO, and its effect on glycolysis was independent of NMA. Furthermore, cells treated with TGF-beta were not depleted in ATP. These data are consistent with hypotheses that rates of proteoglycan synthesis are, in part, regulated by the intracellular concentration of ATP or by changes in pericellular pH. These two possibilities are not mutually exclusive.

Nitric oxide opens ATP-sensitive K+ channels through suppression of phosphofructokinase activity and inhibits glucose-induced insulin release in pancreatic beta cells.

Abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) is known to be a potent messenger in the intracellular signal transduction system in many tissues. In pancreatic beta cells, NO has been reported to be formed from L-arginine through NO synthase. To elucidate the effect of NO on insulin secretion and to investigate the intracellular mechanism of its effect, we have used sodium nitroprusside (SNP) as a NO donor. SNP inhibited glucose-induced insulin secretion in a dose-dependent manner, and its effect was reversed by hemoglobin, a known NO scavenger. However, glyceraldehyde-induced insulin secretion was not affected by SNP. Since the closure of ATP-sensitive K+ channels (KATP channel) has been established as a key step in glucose-induced insulin secretion, we have directly assessed the effect of SNP on KATP channel activity using the patch clamp technique. The KATP channel activity reduced by glucose was found to be reversibly activated by the addition of SNP, and this activation was able to be similarly reproduced by applying S-Nitroso-N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine (SNAP), another NO generator. Furthermore, these activating effects were completely eliminated by hemoglobin, in accordance with the reversibility in inhibition of glucose-induced insulin release. However, SNP could not affect the KATP channel suppression by ATP applied to the inside of the plasma membrane. The activation of the KATP channel by NO, therefore, seems to be due to the decreased ATP production attributable to impairment of glucose metabolism in beta cells. Since SNP exhibited no effect on glyceraldehyde-induced KATP channel inhibition, NO may disturb a glycolytic step before glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. The KATP channel activation by 2-deoxyglucose through presumable ATP consumption due to its phosphorylation by glucokinase was, however, not affected even in the presence of SNP. But in the permeabilized beta cells made by exposure to a low concentration (0.02 U/ml) of streptolysin O (open cell-attached configuration), SNP reopens KATP channels which have been eliminated by fructose-6-phosphate, while this effect was not observed in the KATP channels inhibited by fructose-1,6-bisphosphate. On the other hand, in rat ventricular myocyte KATP channels were not activated by SNP even under a low concentration of glucose. From these observations, the inhibition of phosphofructokinase activity is probably the site responsible for the impairment of glucose metabolism induced by NO in pancreatic beta cells. NO, therefore, seems to be a factor in the deterioration of glucose-induced insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells through a unique intracellular mechanism.

Quantitative aspects of glucose and glutamine metabolism by intestinal cells

Abstract: Gut fuel utilisation has several unique features. Arterial and luminal fuels provide nutrition for the enterocyte, the former being of more importance. This factor, and the heterogeneity of cell types within the gut makes it difficult to define its fuel utilisation. Metabolic control logic suggests that modulation of the maximal activity of any pathway resides in those enzymes that operate in vivo at rates far below their maximal capacity and that catalyse non-equilibrium reactions. On this basis, although enterocyte hexokinase activity is much higher than in other 'glycolytic' cells (for example, brain), potentially high rates of glucose utilisation are modulated by substrate cycling of glucose 6-phosphate back to glucose through glucose 6-phosphatase. Glutamine metabolism proceeds by glutaminase to produce glutamate, which may then be transaminated (aspartate-aminotransferase and alanine-amino transferase) to produce alpha-ketoglutarate, alanine, and aspartate. The end products of glutamine metabolism by incubated gut preparations in vitro (mainly alanine), suggests that enterocytes, not immune cells, are responsible for most gut glutamine metabolism. High flux rates of glucose and glutamine metabolism in the enterocyte may result from the need for de novo synthesis of purines and pyrimidines and ribose sugars for nucleic acid synthesis. Sepsis reduces rates of glucose and glutamine metabolism, perhaps to preserve the increased consumption of these fuels by activated lymphocytes and macrophages in the gut wall.