Evidence for the existence of the hexose monophosphate pathway for glucose metabolism in the normal and denervated skeletal muscle of rats

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Abstract
The effect of a variety of conditions on the production of [C14]CO2 from [1-C14]-glucose and [6-C14]glucose, with strips of rat gastrocnemius muscle incubated in Kreba-Ringer- bicarbonate medium, was measured. The quotient ([C14]CO2 from [1-C14 ]glucose) / ([C14]CO2 from [6-C14]-glucose) was usually greater than 1. When the concentration of labelled glucose in the medium was increased the oxidation of both C-1and C-6 increased in parallel. Arsenite, in aerobic conditions, inhibited the oxidation of C-6 to a greater extent than that of C-l. Pyruvate, in aerobic conditions, also led to a greater decrease of the incorporation of C-6 into [C14]CO2 than that of C-l. Under anaerobic conditions [C14] CO2 was produced only from [1-C14] glucose and this incorporation was stimulated by the addition of pyruvate. No difference could be detected between normal and atrophic (denervated) muscles with respect to the aerobic (inhibitory) or anaerobic (stimulatory) action of pyruvate. The results are discussed in relation to the existence of the hexose monophosphate pathway in skeletal muscle and to the possibility that this metabolic route can be stimulated in experimental or pathological conditions.