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PubMed1990

Mechanism of pyruvate inhibition of plant pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase and synergism with ADP.

The effects of various metabolites on pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) kinase-catalyzed inactivation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) were studied in extracts of mitochondria purified from green leaf tissue of Pisum sativum L. Pyruvate was an uncompetitive inhibitor of PDH kinase with respect to ATP whereas ADP was a competitive inhibitor. In the absence of pyruvate a fivefold excess of ADP over ATP was required to inhibit PDH kinase, however, in the presence of pyruvate much lower ADP concentrations were required. Inhibition of PDH kinase by pyruvate and ADP was synergistic and the addition of ADP changed pyruvate from an uncompetitive inhibitor to a noncompetitive inhibitor. This result indicates that pyruvate acts as a "dead-end" inhibitor, binding to the PDH kinase-ADP reaction intermediate. Evidence is also presented that inhibition by pyruvate in the presence of thiamine pyrophosphate is due to the formation of hydroxyethyl thiamine pyrophosphate. The results are discussed in terms of the regulation of PDC activity by pyruvate and ADP during periods of increased demand for carbon skeleton biosynthesis by way of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle despite constraints imposed on TCA cycle flux by a high ATP/ADP ratio.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1985

Pyruvate and acetate oxidation by leukocytes in vitro. Activation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex by uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation.

Pyruvate oxidation by normal intact leukocytes has been systematically studied to define optimal conditions for detection of enzymatic defects in this process. Leukocytes were isolated by dextran sedimentation and lymphocytes by Ficoll centrifugation. Cells were incubated for 2 h with [1-14C]-pyruvate, [2-14C]-pyruvate or [1-14C]-acetate as substrate. The specific oxidative capacity of lymphocytes was almost three times higher than that of granulocytes from the same blood. Oxidation of both pyruvate and acetate was highly dependent on the substrate concentration in the medium reaching a plateau between 0.5 and 1.0 mmol/l. Addition of succinate (1 mmol/l) stimulated oxidation of [1-14C]-pyruvate by 30%. Uncoupling of phosphorylation by addition of carbonyl cyanide chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) (0.1 mumol/l) increased oxidation of [1-14C]-pyruvate by 200% and of [1-14C]-acetate by 70%. Addition of CCCP plus succinate caused further stimulation of pyruvate oxidation (+40%), but not of acetate oxidation. It is therefore concluded that: (1) Lymphocytes are better than mixed leukocytes for oxidative studies. (2) Unlabelled substrate should be added at optimal concentrations. (3) The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex is normally only partially active in lymphocytes. (4) Stimulation of oxidation by CCCP greatly enhances the flux through the PDH step thus facilitating the detection of defects in pyruvate oxidation.

Acetates↗
PubMed1973

Regulation of pyruvate metabolism via pyruvate carboxylase in rat brain mitochondria.

1. The fixation of CO(2) by pyruvate carboxylase in isolated rat brain mitochondria was investigated. 2. In the presence of pyruvate, ATP, inorganic phosphate and magnesium, rat brain mitochondria fixed H(14)CO(3) (-) into tricarboxylic acid-cycle intermediates at a rate of about 250nmol/30min per mg of protein. 3. Citrate and malate were the main radioactive products with citrate containing most of the radioactivity fixed. The observed rates of H(14)CO(3) (-) fixation and citrate formation correlated with the measured activities of pyruvate carboxylase and citrate synthase in the mitochondria. 4. The carboxylation of pyruvate by the mitochondria had an apparent K(m) for pyruvate of about 0.5mm. 5. Pyruvate carboxylation was inhibited by ADP and dinitrophenol. 6. Malate, succinate, fumarate and oxaloacetate inhibited the carboxylation of pyruvate whereas glutamate stimulated it. 7. The results suggest that the metabolism of pyruvate via pyruvate carboxylase in brain mitochondria is regulated, in part, by the intramitochondrial concentrations of pyruvate, oxaloacetate and the ATP:ADP ratio.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1992

Bicarbonate-dependent ATP cleavage catalysed by pyruvate carboxylase in the absence of pyruvate.

Preparations of pyruvate carboxylase catalyse the cleavage of MgATP in the absence of pyruvate and acetyl-CoA. The rate of this cleavage is higher in the presence of HCO3- than in its absence. Incubation of the enzyme preparations with an excess of the pyruvate carboxylase inhibitor, avidin, completely abolishes the pyruvate carboxylating activity of the enzyme preparations but only abolishes the HCO3(-)-dependent MgATP cleaving activity, with no effect on the HCO3(-)-independent ATPase activity. The HCO3(-)-dependent MgATP cleavage is also sensitive to inhibition by a pyruvate carboxylase inhibitor, oxamate, and the dependence of the reaction on the free Mg2+ concentration is similar to that of the pyruvate-carboxylation reaction, whereas the HCO3(-)-independent MgATP cleavage is not dependent on the concentration of free Mg2+ in the range tested. This indicates that MgATP cleavage by pyruvate carboxylase is entirely dependent on the presence of HCO3- and that there may be a low level of ATPase contamination in the enzyme preparations. In addition, inhibition of the HCO3(-)-dependent MgATP cleavage by both avidin and oxamate indicate that although biotin does not directly participate in the reaction, its presence is required in that part of the active site of the enzyme. The rate of HCO3(-)-dependent MgATP cleavage is about 0.07% of that of the full pyruvate carboxylation reaction under similar conditions with saturating substrates. The reaction mechanism is sequential with respect to MgATP and HCO3- addition and Mg2+ adds at equilibrium before MgATP. Acetyl-CoA stimulates the HCO3(-)-dependent MgATP cleavage at low MgATP concentrations, with the stimulation being greater at low Mg2+ concentrations. At high levels of MgATP in the presence of acetyl-CoA, substrate inhibition is evident and is more pronounced at increasing concentrations of Mg2+. This inhibition appears to be, at least in part, caused by inhibition of decarboxylation of the enzyme-carboxybiotin complex by the binding to this complex of Mg2+ and MgATP, which probably act to reduce the rate of movement of carboxybiotin from the site of the MgATP cleavage reaction to that of the pyruvate carboxylation reaction where it is unstable and decarboxylates.

Acetyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1992

Pyruvate catabolism during transient state conditions in chemostat cultures of Enterococcus faecalis NCTC 775: importance of internal pyruvate concentrations and NADH/NAD+ ratios.

NADH/NAD+ ratios and internal pyruvate concentrations were determined during switches between aerobic and anaerobic steady-state conditions of glucose-limited chemostat cultures of Enterococcus faecalis. During the switch experiments, changes in catabolic fluxes were observed: transition from anaerobic to aerobic conditions resulted in a complete and instantaneous conversion of glucose into acetate and CO2 via the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, while during a switch from aerobic to anaerobic conditions the culture became homolactic. A similar switch to a homolactic fermentation was observed upon release of the limitation by addition of a glucose pulse to the culture. In sharp contrast to this, a pyruvate pulse resulted in an increase of both pyruvate formate-lyase and pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activity. Furthermore, acetoin was formed during a pyruvate pulse, probably due to a dramatic increase in internal pyruvate concentration. Regulation of the catabolic fluxes over the various pyruvate-catabolizing enzymes is discussed in view of the observed changes in internal pyruvate concentrations and NADH/NAD+ ratios.

Acetates↗
PubMed1977

Pyruvate formation during the catabolism of simple hexose sugars by Escherichia coli: studies with pyruvate kinase-negative mutants.

Escherichia coli K-12 mutants lacking the adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated pyruvate kinase have been isolated accidentally and used to prepare further mutants additionally devoid of the fructose bisphosphate-activated pyruvate kinase. Such double mutants totally devoid of pyruvate kinase activity still grow well under aerobic conditions on sugars that are catabolized by the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP):sugar phosphotransferase system, but they grow poorly on non-phosphotransferase system sugars. This suggests that although pyruvate kinase plays a major role in the formation of pyruvate from PEP during growth on non-phosphotransferase system sugars, the operation of the PEP:sugar phosphotransferase system can contribute significantly to pyruvate production from PEP. In the absence of pyruvate kinase and an active PEP:sugar phosphotransferase system the methylglyoxal glycolytic bypass may also function to some extent for the formation of pyruvate during the catabolism of simple hexose sugars. No unique physiological role can yet be ascribed to the adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated pyruvate kinase as a result of these studies.

Escherichia coli↗
PubMed1978

The genetic system of the L-type pyruvate kinase forms in man. Subunit structure, interrelation and kinetic characteristics of the pyruvate kinase enzymes from erythrocytes and liver.

Pyruvate kinase (ATP: pyruvate 2-O-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.40) from human liver and red cells has been purified to homogeneity; its subunit structure and some of its kinetic characteristics have been studied. The influence of a partial proteolysis by trypsin on the subunit structure, the isozymic pattern and the kinetic characteristics of red cell and liver enzyme have been investigated. From the results of this study we may conclude that: 1. Liver (L-type) pyruvate kinase is composed of 4 identical L subunits while the major form of erythrocyte enzyme (PK-R2) is a heterotetramer designated as L2L2', the molecular weight of L' being slightly higher than that of L subunits (63 000 and 58 000 respectively). Pyruvate kinase PK-R1, predominant in the erythroblasts and the young red cells, is composed of four identical L' subunits. 2. A mild tryptic attack is able to transform PK-R1 into PK-R2, then PK-R2 into pyruvate kinase L (PK-L). The same proteolytic treatment transforms the L' subunits into L ones. 3. Consequently L-type pyruvate kinase seems to be initially synthesized in the erythroid precursors as an L4' enzyme secondarily partially proteolysed into L2L2'. In liver a very active proteolytic system would be responsible for the total transformation into L4 pyruvate kinase. 4. L4' enzyme exhibits Michaelis-Menten kinetic behaviour with an apparent Michaelis constant of 3.8 mM whereas L4 enzyme shows both positive and negative homotropic interactions towards phosphoenolpyruvate and has [S] 0.5 of 1.2 mM. The characteristics of L2L2' are roughly intermediate between those of L4' and of L4. Fructose 1,6-biphosphate decreases [S]0.5 for these three pyruvate kinase forms without suppressing the differences in the apparent affinity for phosphoenolpyruvate of these enzymes. 5. L4 pyruvate kinase is more inhibited by Mg-ATP than L4', with L2L2' in the intermediate range. 6. Tryptic treatment of each enzyme form studied transforms its kinetic behaviour into that observed for L4.

Erythrocytes↗
PubMed1987

13C NMR study of effects of fasting and diabetes on the metabolism of pyruvate in the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the utilization of pyruvate and ethanol in lipogenesis in perfused rat liver.

13C NMR has been used to study the competition of pyruvate dehydrogenase with pyruvate carboxylase for entry of pyruvate into the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in perfused liver from streptozotocin-diabetic and normal donor rats. The relative proportion of pyruvate entering the TCA cycle by these two routes was estimated from the 13C enrichments at the individual carbons of glutamate when [3-13C]alanine was the only exogenous substrate present. In this way, the proportion of pyruvate entering by the pyruvate dehydrogenase route relative to the pyruvate carboxylase route was determined to be 1:1.2 +/- 0.1 in liver from fed controls, 1:7.7 +/- 2 in liver from 24-fasted controls, and 1:2.6 +/- 0.3 in diabetic liver. Pursuant to this observation that conversion of pyruvate to acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) was greatest in perfused liver from fed controls, the incorporation of 13C label into fatty acids was monitored in this liver preparation. Livers were perfused under steady-state conditions with labeled substrates that are converted to either [2-13C]acetyl-CoA or [1-13C]acetyl-CoA, which in the de novo synthesis pathway label alternate carbons in fatty acids. With the exception of the repeating methylene carbons, fatty acyl carbons labeled by [1-13C]acetyl-CoA (from [2-13C]pyruvate) gave rise to resonances distinguishable on the basis of chemical shift from those observed when label was introduced by [3-13C]alanine plus [2-13C]ethanol, which are converted to [2-13C]acetyl-CoA. Thus, measurement of 13C enrichment at several specific sites in the fatty acyl chains in time-resolved spectra of perfused liver offers a novel way of monitoring the kinetics of the biosynthesis of fatty acids.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Pyruvate dehydrogenase and pyruvate carboxylase. Sites of pretranslational regulation by glucose of glucose-induced insulin release in pancreatic islets.

It has been shown previously that glucose-induced insulin release is completely absent in rat pancreatic islets that had been cultured for 1 day at low glucose (1 mM) and that it is restored by culturing islets for a 2nd day at high (20 mM) glucose (MacDonald, M. J., Fahien, L. A., McKenzie, D. I., and Moran, S. M. (1991) Am. J. Physiol. 259, E548-E554). It has been suggested that the incapacitation of glucose's insulinotropism is due to down-regulation of the synthesis of enzymes that process glucose's metabolic signal for insulin release. In the current study, results of metabolic, enzymic, and molecular biologic experiments were each consistent with (an) intramitochondrial site(s) of down-regulation in islets cultured at low glucose. Glucose metabolism was inhibited 80% in islets cultured at 1 mM glucose. The suppression of release of 14CO2 from [6-14C]glucose greater than from [U-14C]glucose greater than [3,4-14C]glucose greater than from [1-14C]glucose in islets cultured at low glucose indicated a mitochondrial site of down-regulation because C-6 of glucose can only be converted to CO2 in the citric acid cycle, whereas C-1 can be released as CO2 in the 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase [corrected] reaction, and C-6 of glucose dwells in the citric acid cycle longer than carbons 2-5 of glucose. Since carbons 3 and 4 of glucose can be decarboxylated in the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction, incomplete suppression of CO2 formation from these carbons is consistent with suppression of pyruvate carboxylation as well as decarboxylation. Formation of 3HOH from [5-3H]glucose was equal in the two groups of islets, indicating that glycolysis as far as phosphoenolpyruvate was intact. This idea was supported by assays which showed that activities of enzymes of the glycolytic pathway between glucokinase/hexokinase and pyruvate kinase were equal in both types of islets. Additional studies indicated that regulation by glucose was at transcription of genes coding for some mitochondrial enzymes. Glucokinase, malic enzyme, and fumarase mRNAs were not affected by glucose, whereas the pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 alpha subunit and pyruvate carboxylase mRNAs were decreased 85-90% in islets cultured at 1 mM glucose. Pyruvate dehydrogenase enzyme activity was decreased to a similar extent in these islets. About 24 h was required for maximal (de)induction of pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 alpha and pyruvate carboxylase mRNAs, and the amounts of transcripts were proportional to the concentrations of glucose between 1 and 20 mM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Effect of thyroid hormone on the turnover of rat liver pyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate dehydrogenase.

Immunochemical techniques have been utilized to study the effect of thyroid status on the content and rates of synthesis and degradation of pyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate dehydrogenase in rat liver. Liver from hyperthyroid rats had twice the pyruvate carboxylase activity of normal rats while thyroidectomized rats had about two-thirds of normal activity. Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activity was unchanged in the hyperthyroid state but was significantly reduced (by a third) in hypothyroid rats. Changes in catalytic activity during altered thyroid status were by immunochemical means to be closely related to the amount of the hepatic enzymes present. Isotopic studies showed that the changes in the content of pyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate dehydrogenase reflected alterations in the rate of the synthesis of the enzymes with the degradation rates little affected by thyroid status. The half-life for pyruvate carboxylase was 4.6 days, and that for pyruvate dehydrogenase, 8.1 days. In both cases, the turnover time was slower than that of the average mitochondrial protein (t1/2 = 3.8 days) for the control animals.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Evidence for separate enzymes of pyruvate decarboxylation and pyruvate synthesis in soluble extracts of Clostridium pasteurianum.

Additional evidence to that already presented (Sauer, F. D., Bush, R. S., and Stevenson, I. L. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 445, 518-520) suggests that pyruvate-ferredoxin oxidoreductase isolated from Clostridium pasteurianum consists of two separate enzymes: (a) pyruvate lyase, which catalyzes the CoA and electron acceptor-dependent decarboxylation of pyruvate, and (b) pyruvate synthase, which catalyzes the reduced ferredoxin-dependent carboxylation of acetyl-CoA to pyruvate. The enzymes separated on Sephadex G-200 and with acrylamide gel electrophoresis but complete separation of one enzyme free of the other was not achieved. Extensive purification procedures were not used because both enzymes are unstable. The results confirm published reports that pyruvate lyase contains thiamin and a chromophore which participates in electron transfer. Pyruvate synthase, however, did not appear to be a thiamin enzyme and there was no evidence to indicate participation of an enzyme chromophore in the pyruvate synthase reaction.

Carboxy-Lyases↗
PubMed1985

Relationship between activation state of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex and rate of pyruvate oxidation in isolated cerebro-cortical mitochondria: effects of potassium ions and adenine nucleotides.

The relation between the activation (phosphorylation) state of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC; EC 1.2.4.1, EC 2.3.1.12, and EC 1.6.4.3) and the rate of pyruvate oxidation has been examined in isolated, metabolically active, and tightly coupled mitochondria from rat cerebral cortex. With pyruvate and malate as the substrates, the activation state of PDHC decreased on addition of ADP, while the rates of oxygen uptake and 14CO2 formation from [1-14C]pyruvate increased. The lack of correlation between the activation state of PDHC and rate of pyruvate oxidation was seen in media containing 5, 30, or 100 mM KCl. Both the activation state of PDHC and pyruvate oxidation increased, however, when KCl was increased from 5 to 100 mM. Although the PDHC is inactivated by an ATP-dependent kinase (EC 2.7.1.99), direct measurement of ATP and ADP failed to show a consistent relationship between the activation state of PDHC and either ATP levels or ATP/ADP ratios. Comparison of the activation state of PDHC in uncoupled or oligomycin-treated mitochondria also failed to correlate PDHC activation state to adenine nucleotides. In brain mitochondria, unlike those from other tissues, the activation state of PDHC does not seem to be related clearly to the rate of pyruvate oxidation, or to the mitochondrial adenylate energy charge.

Acetyltransferases↗
PubMed1986

Utilization of pyruvate and pyruvate precursors by normal and carcinogen-altered rat tracheal epithelial cells in culture.

The metabolism of [14C]pyruvate, [14C]glucose, [14C]glutamine and [14C]alanine was compared between normal rat tracheal epithelial cells and carcinogen-altered cells derived from dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-exposed tracheal implants. Normal primary cultures (NPC) of tracheal cells are distinguished by their need for pyruvate-supplemented medium for growth and survival. The altered cells were selected out by their survival in the unsupplemented medium. Compared to the selected primary cultures (SPC), the NPC showed a three- to four-fold higher incorporation of radioactivity from [2-14C]pyruvate in all the macromolecular fractions, as well as in all the metabolites isolated from the acid soluble fraction and from lactic acid isolated from the medium. [U-14C]glucose was also incorporated at higher levels into lactic acid isolated from the acid soluble fraction and the medium of NPC. These data indicate a higher rate of glycolysis in the normal tracheal cells. This was supported by the findings of a two-fold greater glucose consumption and two-fold higher production of lactic acid isolated from the NPC medium. Lactate dehydrogenase activity was also two-fold higher in NPC. Thus, despite the apparently higher level of pyruvate production in the NPC, exogenous pyruvate is necessary to satisfy the metabolic needs of NPC. The utilization of [U-14C]glutamine or [U-14C]alanine was not markedly different between NPC and SPC. Furthermore, radioactivity from both of the amino acids was recovered in lactic acid in the medium, indicating that both cell types can derive pyruvic acid from either glutamine or alanine. SPC apparently do not use these routes to supply higher levels of pyruvic acid for survival in culture. The oxidation of none of the radioactive metabolites into CO2 was distinctly different between NPC and SPC except for the 1.7-fold higher utilization of [1-14C]glucose along the oxidative arm of the pentose cycle in the normal cells.

Alanine↗
PubMed1987

Isolated tumoral pyruvate dehydrogenase can synthesize acetoin which inhibits pyruvate oxidation as well as other aldehydes.

Oxidation of 1 mM pyruvate by Ehrlich and AS30-D tumor mitochondria is inhibited by acetoin, an unusual and important metabolite of pyruvate utilization by cancer cells, by acetaldehyde, methylglyoxal and excess pyruvate. The respiratory inhibition is reversed by other substrates added to pyruvate and also by 0.5 mM ATP. Kinetic properties of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex isolated from these tumor mitochondria have been studied. This complex appears to be able to synthesize acetoin from acetaldehyde plus pyruvate and is competitively inhibited by acetoin. The role of a new regulatory pattern for tumoral pyruvate dehydrogenase is presented.

Acetoin↗
PubMed1973

Effects of dichloroacetate on the metabolism of glucose, pyruvate, acetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and palmitate in rat diaphragm and heart muscle in vitro and on extraction of glucose, lactate, pyruvate and free fatty acids by dog heart in vivo.

1. The extractions of glucose, lactate, pyruvate and free fatty acids by dog heart in vivo were calculated from measurements of their arterial and coronary sinus blood concentration. Elevation of plasma free fatty acid concentrations by infusion of intralipid and heparin resulted in increased extraction of free fatty acids and diminished extractions of glucose, lactate and pyruvate by the heart. It is suggested that metabolism of free fatty acids by the heart in vivo, as in vitro, may impair utilization of these substrates. These effects of elevated plasma free fatty acid concentrations on extractions by the heart in vivo were reversed by injection of dichloroacetate, which also improved extraction of lactate and pyruvate by the heart in vivo in alloxan diabetes. 2. Sodium dichloroacetate increased glucose oxidation and pyruvate oxidation in hearts from fed normal or alloxan-diabetic rats perfused with glucose and insulin. Dichloroacetate inhibited oxidation of acetate and 3-hydroxybutyrate and partially reversed inhibitory effects of these substrates on the oxidation of glucose. In rat diaphragm muscle dichloroacetate inhibited oxidation of acetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and palmitate and increased glucose oxidation and pyruvate oxidation in diaphragms from alloxan-diabetic rats. Dichloroacetate increased the rate of glycolysis in hearts perfused with glucose, insulin and acetate and evidence is given that this results from a lowering of the citrate concentration within the cell, with a consequent activation of phosphofructokinase. 3. In hearts from normal rats perfused with glucose and insulin, dichloroacetate increased cell concentrations of acetyl-CoA, acetylcarnitine and glutamate and lowered those of aspartate and malate. In perfusions with glucose, insulin and acetate, dichloroacetate lowered the cell citrate concentration without lowering the acetyl-CoA or acetylcarnitine concentrations. Measurements of specific radioactivities of acetyl-CoA, acetylcarnitine and citrate in perfusions with [1-(14)C]acetate indicated that dichloroacetate lowered the specific radio-activity of these substrates in the perfused heart. Evidence is given that dichloroacetate may not be metabolized by the heart to dichloroacetyl-CoA or dichloroacetylcarnitine or citrate or CO(2). 4. We suggest that dichloroacetate may activate pyruvate dehydrogenase, thus increasing the oxidation of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA and acetylcarnitine and the conversion of acetyl-CoA into glutamate, with consumption of aspartate and malate. Possible mechanisms for the changes in cell citrate concentration and for inhibitory effects of dichloroacetate on the oxidation of acetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and palmitate are discussed.

Acetates↗
PubMed1985

Lactate, pyruvate, and lactate-to-pyruvate ratio during exercise and recovery.

The pattern of lactate increase and its relation to pyruvate and lactate-to-pyruvate (L/P) ratio were studied during exercise and early recovery in 10 normal subjects for incremental exercise on a cycle ergometer. Gas exchange was measured breath by breath. Lactate and pyruvate were measured by enzymatic techniques. Lactate and log lactate changed only slightly at low levels of O2 uptake (VO2) but both began to abruptly increase at approximately 40-55% of the maximal VO2. However, the point of abrupt increase in pyruvate occurred at higher work rates and the rate of increase was not as great as that for lactate. Thus L/P ratio increased at the same VO2 as the log lactate increase. Following the exercise, pyruvate continued to increase steeply for at least the first 5 recovery min, whereas at 2 min lactate increased only slightly or decreased. Thus arterial L/P ratio reversed its direction of change and decreased toward the resting value by 2 min of recovery. Lactate, as well as L/P ratios, decreased in all subjects by 5 min. This study demonstrates that lactate and pyruvate concentrations increase slightly at low levels of exercise without a change in L/P ratio until a threshold work rate at which lactate abruptly increases without pyruvate. The resulting increase in L/P ratio is progressive as work rate is incremented and abruptly reverses when exercise stops.

Adult↗