The potential for lactate utilization by red and white muscle of the eel Anguilla rostrata L.

Abstract

The activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (L-lactate: NAD⁺ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.27) can be divided into a lactate oxidase (lactate to pyruvate) and pyruvate reductase (pyruvate to lactate) component. These activities were examined in red and white muscle excised from the American eel Anguilla rostrata as an estimate of tissue lactate utilization, and compared with the kidney, gill, heart, and liver patterns. Phosphoenol pyruvate carboxykinase (PEP CK) activities in red and white muscle and liver were estimated as a marker for tissue gluconeogenic potential. Consistent with the possibility of lactate utilization for gluconeogenesis, both red muscle and liver possessed an active PEP CK and a bifunctional LDH, where oxidase activities were of the same magnitude as reductase activities. Kidney, which in mammals possesses gluconeogenic capabilities, together with heart and gill, also demonstrated LDH profiles consistent with the liver and red muscle enzymes. White muscle LDH was found to be essentially a pyruvate reductase and no PEP CK activity could be detected. These results suggest that eel red muscle has the potential to utilize lactate and has at least some of the enzymes required for gluconeogenesis. Therefore, the capacity of red muscle to perform a metabolic recycling function in addition to contraction cannot be excluded.