Substrate utilization and oxygen consumption by canine jejunal mucosa in vitro

Oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, and substrate utilization by small pieces of canine jejunal mucosa have been measured in vitro. In the absence of added substrate, the Qo2 was 0.21 mumol/h per mg dry wt and the respiratory quotient (RQ) was 0.73 indicating the endogenous substrate to be lipid in nature. When glucose or galactose was added, Qo2 and RQ increased. Metabolism of the endogenous substrate was depressed by fructose but not by glucose or galactose. Less than 15% of the metabolized glucose and fructose was degraded to Co2; 80% of the metabolized glucose was recovered as lactate. Galactose disappeared at one-seventh the rate of glucose, but 40% of that metabolized was degrated to CO2. In all experiments Qo2 showed marked cyclic fluctuations with an amplitude of 30-40% of the mean value and a period of 30-40 min. For tissues from a single animal, the cycles were in phase on a clock time basis, indicating that the cycles were synchronized by some in vivo mechanism.