[Metabolic conversion of pyruvate in the liver in experimental burns]

Content of Pyruvic acid was increased in liver tissue of rats after thermic burns of the IIa-IIIb grades affecting 25-30% of the body surface. Oxidation of pyruvic acid appears to be impaired after burns considering that consumption of oxygen was decreased in liver mitochondria in presence of pyruvate, the pyruvate dehydrogenase activity was decreased and specific radioactivity of CO2, liberated after incubation of liver slices with 2-1 C-pyruvate, was also decreased. Impairment of the pyruvate oxidation resulted in intensive consumption of the substance via other metabolic pathways, namely via lactate dehydrogenase reaction and glyconeogenesis.