Effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on markers of skeletal muscle metabolism and monocarboxylate transporter 1 to monocarboxylate transporter 4 transporters

Diabetes is known to alter both oxidative and glycolytic pathways in a fiber type-dependent manner. In various skeletal muscles of normal rats, monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) has been found to be highly correlated to lactate uptake, as well as to oxidative capacity, whereas the distribution and characteristics of MCT4 make it a good candidate for the extrusion of lactic acid from glycolytic muscle cells. Since a previous study found decreased sarcolemmal lactate uptake in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats, we investigated the presence of MCT1 in relation to enzymatic markers of both oxidative and glycolytic pathways, as well as MCT4 content, in STZ-diabetic rats. Soleus (SOL), red tibialis anterior (RTA), extensor digitorus longus (EDL), heart, and preparations of purified sarcolemmal vesicles (SV) from control and STZ-diabetic rats were harvested for MCT1 and MCT4 content, citrate synthase activity (CS), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isozymes. Basal blood lactate concentration was increased by 38% in the diabetic rats (close to 1.91 mmol/L). However, no change was found in either MCT1 or MCT4 content in these rats. The diabetic rats presented fiber type-specific decrease in CS activity. We noted a redistribution in LDH isozymes in diabetic muscles with a general increase in type H-LDH. Regression analyses indicated (1) a strong relationship between LDH-4 and LDH-5 and (2) MCT1 was still correlated with CS activity in diabetic muscles. These results suggest that diabetes-induced hyperlactatemia is not associated with changes in MCT1 or MCT4 expression, but with alterations of oxidative and glycolytic enzymes. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.