Incorporation Rate of Glucose Carbon, Palmitate Carbon and Leucine Carbon into Metabolites in Relation to Enzyme Activities and RNA Levels in Human Skeletal Muscles

The activities (Vmax) of hexokinase, glycogen phosphorylase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphofructokinase, lactate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, cytochrome c oxidase, and 3-OH-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase in human skeletal muscles were compared with the in vitro utilization of glucose and palmitic acid assessed under optimal conditions. Statistically significant correlations between substrate fluxes and enzyme activities were found suggesting that the substrate incorporation rate in vitro in some way reflects the capacity of metabolic pathways. The incorporation rate of leucine into muscle proteins was also statistically significantly correlated to the RNA concentration in the muscle tissue. Glycolytic and glycogenolytic enzymes correlated significantly to each other and correlations were also found between aerobic enzymes supporting the validity of constant proportions between certain key enzymes in human skeletal muscles.