Jt. Barron et al., SUBSTRATE-DEPENDENT ALTERATION IN O-2 CONSUMPTION AND ENERGY-METABOLISM IN VASCULAR SMOOTH-MUSCLE, American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 39(6), 1996, pp. 1869-1877
Energy metabolism and the substrate utilization pattern of intact porc
ine carotid artery were investigated in the presence or absence of glu
cose and/or octanoate during the phases of isometric contraction induc
ed by K+ depolarization. During the early phase of contraction, there
was a rapid increase in the rate of O-2 uptake that was independent of
the rate of force generation but dependent on the availability of int
racellular pyruvate, the source of which was glucose and not glycogen.
Lactate production increased linearly from the onset of contractile s
timulation and was not suppressed by octanoate oxidation. There was no
alteration from the basal resting state in the concentrations of the
metabolites of the tricarboxylic acid cycle in the presence or absence
of octanoate. During the phase of steady-state force maintenance, O-2
consumption was increased compared with the basal unstimulated rate b
ut was not increased when glucose and octanoate were present, which is
consistent with the Crabtree effect. This was associated with increas
ed aerobic lactic acid production and inhibition of the tricarboxylic
acid cycle at the citrate synthase step. Alteration of the high-energy
phosphate content could not account for the pattern of O-2 consumptio
n during contraction under different substrate conditions. In the abse
nce of glucose, the energy from octanoate oxidation could substitute f
or the energy ordinarily derived from aerobic glycogen and lactic acid
production. It is concluded that energy metabolism of vascular smooth
muscle is coordinated during contraction by integration of the pathwa
ys of aerobic glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation.