Benjamin M. Pullinger1, Stephen J. Kadlecek1,
Helen Chen2, Qingwei Chu2, Nicholas N. Kuzma1,
Rahim R. Rizi1
1Radiology, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 2Department of
Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA,
United States
The metabolism of hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate was investigated in the isolated perfused mouse liver. Along with the commonly observed conversions to alanine and lactate, we also observed pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and pyruvate carboxylase (PC) activity. The ability to simultaneously measure PC and PDH flux has important implications in the study of insulin resistance. As a proof of concept, we report an increase in PC flux (0.17 0.03 to 0.30 0.06) in fasted livers compared to fed livers.