Chardonay Julia Vance1,2, Hitoshi Kubo3, Kristen Stewart Maynard1, Klearchos K. Papas1, Gulin Oz2
1Diabetes Institute, U of MN, Minneapolis, MN, USA; 2CMRR, U of MN, Minneapolis, MN, USA; 3Medical Imaging, University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan
Pancreatic islet transplantation is a promising treatment for restoring normoglycemia in some patients with Type-1 diabetes. Islet death induced by hypoxia limits viable islet yield and the success rate of transplantations. To address the metabolic consequences of islet exposure to anoxia, we compared anaerobic and oxidative carbohydrate metabolism (as measured by 13C label incorporation from 13C-glucose to metabolites in exchange with TCA cycle intermediates) and energy status (as measured by ATP-to-ADP ratio via 31P NMR) of highly purified porcine islets. The ATP/ADP ratio fell during anoxia. GABA, lactate and alanine synthesis from glucose increased, and glutamate synthesis decreased during anoxia.