Glucose utilization in heart, diaphragm and skeletal muscle during the fed-to-starved transition

The progressive effects of starvation on muscle glucose utilization were studied in the conscious resting rat. High rates of glucose uptake and phosphorylation in constantly working cardiothoracic (heart, diaphragm) and postural skeletal muscles (soleus, adductor longus) were maintained for at least 9 h of starvation. A rapid decline in cardiac glucose utilization was observed during the period 9-24 h of starvation, but for the other muscles the decline was more gradual. Consequently, even after 24 h, rates of glucose utilization in these muscles remained quantitatively significant. In both cardiothoracic and working (postural) skeletal muscle, glucose uptake and phosphorylation and activity of the active form of pyruvate dehydrogenase exhibited differential sensitivities to starvation and also to acute elevation of fatty acid concentrations during acute (4-9 h) starvation, such that pyruvate oxidation was more rapidly suppressed than glucose uptake and phosphorylation. The results are discussed in relation to the role of the glucose/fatty acid cycle in glucose conservation during the fed-to-starved transition.