Inhibition of calcineurin increases monocarboxylate transporters 1 and 4 protein and glycolytic enzyme activities in rat soleus muscle

1. The present study was designed to examine the role of calcineurin in muscle metabolic components by the administration of the specific calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporine A (CsA) to rats. 2. Male Wistar rats were divided into either a CsA-treated group (CT) or a vehicle-treated group (VT). Cyclosporine A was administered subcutaneously to rats at a rate of 25 mg/kg bodyweight per day for 10 successive days. Thereafter, changes in muscle enzyme activities and glucose transporter (GLUT)-4 and monocarboxylate transporter (MCT)-1 and MCT-4 proteins in the slow-twitch soleus and fast-twitch extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles were examined. 3. There was a significant increase in MCT-1 and MCT-4 proteins in the soleus muscle in the CT group, but not in the EDL muscle. The activities of hexokinase, pyruvate kinase and lactate dehydrogenase in the soleus muscle also increased significantly in the CT group, but a similar increase in enzyme activity was not seen in EDL muscle. The activities of citrate synthase or malate dehydrogenase and the GLUT-4 protein content were not altered by CsA treatment in either the soleus or EDL muscles. 4. These results seem to imply that calcineurin negatively regulates the components of glucose/lactate metabolism, except for GLUT-4, especially in slow-twitch muscle.