Contribution of different organs to increased glucose consumption after endotoxin administration

Glucose utilization of different organs (spleen, liver, ileum, kidney, skin, lung, and testis) was investigated in vivo in conscious rats 3, 24, or 48 h after treatment with 100 micrograms of endotoxin/100 g of body weight. Glucose uptake was determined by the 2-deoxyglucose technique, which was validated by demonstrating that endotoxin treatment did not alter either the intracellular retention of the phosphorylated metabolites (P-2-dGlc) of the tracer or the discrimination against 2-deoxyglucose in pathways of glucose metabolism. At 3 h after endotoxin the accumulation of P-2-dGlc was markedly increased in the liver (4.8-fold), spleen and skin (2.9-fold), lung (2.4-fold), and ileum and kidney (2.1-fold), as compared to time-matched controls. This effect was sustained in the liver at 24 and 48 h, was diminishing but still significant in spleen, ileum, and kidney, and absent in skin and lung. Accumulation of P-2-dGlc in the testis remained unchanged after endotoxin. Glucose uptake by individual organs and their contribution to whole body glucose utilization in control and endotoxin-treated rats were compared based on P-2-dGlc accumulation data. Organs rich in mononuclear phagocytes (liver and spleen) exhibited a marked and prolonged increase in glucose uptake after endotoxin. Yet the bulk of the increment in the whole body glucose disappearance rate (Rd) was due to three large tissues (skin, intestine, and muscle, accounting for more than 80% of the total P-2-dGlc accumulation in soft tissues), which showed a more moderate and transient increase in glucose utilization.