Lactate is a Preferential Oxidative Energy Substrate over Glucose for Neurons in Culture

Abstract

The authors investigated concomitant lactate and glucose metabolism in primary neuronal cultures using13C- and1H-NMR spectroscopy. Neurons were incubated in a medium containing either [1-13C]glucose and different unlabeled lactate concentrations, or unlabeled glucose and different [3-13C]lactate concentrations. Overall,13C-NMR spectra of cellular extracts showed that more13C was incorporated into glutamate when lactate was the enriched substrate. Glutamate13C-enrichment was also found to be much higher in lactate-labeled than in glucose-labeled conditions. When glucose and lactate concentrations were identical (5.5 mmol/L), relative contributions of glucose and lactate to neuronal oxidative metabolism amounted to 21% and 79%, respectively. Results clearly indicate that when neurons are in the presence of both glucose and lactate, they preferentially use lactate as their main oxidative substrate.