Calcium regulation of glycolysis, glucose oxidation and fatty acid oxidation in the aerobic and ischemic heart

Abstract

Although Ca2+is an important regulator of energy metabolism, the effects of increasing extracellular [Ca2+] on energy substrate preference are not clear. We determined the relationship between [Ca2+], fatty acids, and ischemia on rates of glycolysis, glucose oxidation, and palmitate oxidation in isolated working rat hearts. Hearts were perfused with Krebs–Henseleit buffer containing 11 mM glucose, 100 μU/mL insulin, and either 1.25 or 2.5 mM Ca2+, in the presence or absence of 1.2 mM palmitate. Rates of glycolysis and glucose oxidation or palmitate oxidation were measured in the hearts using [5-3H,14C(U)]glucose or [1-14C]palmitate, respectively. In the absence of fatty acids, glycolysis and glucose oxidation rates were similar, regardless of whether [Ca2+] was 1.25 or 2.5 mM. Addition of 1.2 mM palmitate to the perfusate of hearts perfused with 1.25 mM Ca2+significantly decreased rates of both glycolysis (from 4623 ± 438 to 1378 ± 238 nmol∙min−1∙g−1dry weight) and glucose oxidation (from 1392 ± 219 to 114 ± 22 nmol∙min−1∙g−1dry weight). When [Ca2+] was increased from 1.25 to 2.5 mM in hearts perfused with 1.2 mM palmitate, glycolysis and glucose oxidation increased by 164 and 271%, respectively, with no change in palmitate oxidation rates. Increasing [Ca2+] from 1.25 to 2.5 mM increased the contribution of glucose to ATP production from 9.3 to 18.7%. When hearts were subjected to low-flow ischemia (by reducing coronary flow to 0.5 mL∙min−1) oxidative metabolism was essentially abolished. Under these conditions, glycolytic rates were not dependent on either [Ca2+] or the presence or absence of fatty acids. These results demonstrate that perfusate [Ca2+] is an important determinant of myocardial glucose metabolism in aerobic hearts, and that glycolysis and glucose oxidation are more responsive to changes in [Ca2+] than is fatty acid oxidation.Key words: β-oxidation, glucose oxidation, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.