TCA cycle flux estimates from NMR- and GC-MS-determined [13C]glutamate isotopomers in liver

Infusion of 13C-labeled lactate into rabbits and the subsequent measurement of glutamate isotopomers by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy enables one to calculate relative flow rates associated with the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, albeit with a lower precision than one would obtain using a perfused organ. Two factors contribute to the lower precision in the determination of relative flow rates for the in vivo system: 1) a poorly defined pyruvate input and 2) low levels of 13C-enriched oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA isotopomers, which give rise to weaker glutamate isotopomer NMR signals. To help overcome these limitations, we introduce a procedure to 1) include experimental data from gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and 2) account for the uncertainty in the labeling of the input to pyruvate by creating the labeling as a measurement that is subject to measurement error. The effects of the uncertainties in the input labeling, NMR data, and MS data are evaluated via a Monte Carlo method. The change in the precision of the relative fluxes for the cases of high/low NMR and high/low MS precision is given. An uncertainty in the lactate measurements of up to 10% does not add significantly to the imprecision of the relative flow rates.