[Regulation of ischemic muscle metabolism in peripheral arterial occlusive disease]

A review of metabolic pathways is presented, which are involved in muscular energy production during hypoxia according to recent experimental findings. By means of own exercise examinations the course of reactions providing ATP anaerobically in the muscles of limbs with poor circulation is analysed. Therefore, the arteriovenous differences in the concentrations of lactate, pyruvate, ammonia, hypoxanthine and alanine in the femoral blood of patients with stage II AOD were determined. In addition, the intracellular phosphorus compounds ATP, PCr and Pi as well as the tissue pH were measured noninvasively in the calf muscles using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The results give evidence for marked activation of the creatine kinase reaction, of glycolysis, of the myokinase reaction and of the purine nucleotide cycle in the ischaemic musculature at loads of short duration, which are in total sufficient to maintain the concentration of ATP even during claudication pain. In spite of salvage pathways like alanine formation, the end products of these "emergency reactions", Pi, H+ and NH4+, accumulate and exert deleterious cytotoxic effects, which are thought to be responsible for rapid muscle fatigue and claudication pain in PAOD.