Regulation of muscle pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and fuel use during exercise in high-altitude deer mice.

Adult, lab-reared, highland deer mice acclimate to hypoxia by increasing reliance on carbohydrates to fuel exercise. Yet neither the underlying mechanisms for this shift in fuel use nor the impact of lifetime hypoxia exposure experienced in high alpine conditions, are fully understood. Thus, we assessed the use of fuel during exercise in wild highland deer mice running in their native environment.