Propionate Increases Hepatic Pyruvate Cycling and Anaplerosis and Alters Mitochondrial Metabolism.

In mammals, pyruvate kinase (PK) plays a key role in regulating the balance between glycolysis and gluconeogenesis; however, in vivo regulation of PK flux by gluconeogenic hormones and substrates is poorly understood. To this end, we developed a novel NMR-liquid chromatography/tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method to directly assess pyruvate cycling relative to mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism (VPyr-Cyc/VMito) in vivo using [3-(13)C]lactate as a tracer. Using this approach, VPyr-Cyc/VMito was only 6% in overnight fasted rats.

D1 receptors regulate dendritic morphology in normal and stressed prelimbic cortex.

Both stress and dysfunction of prefrontal cortex are linked to psychological disorders, and structure and function of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are altered by stress. Chronic restraint stress causes dendritic retraction in the prelimbic region (PL) of mPFC in rats. Dopamine release in mPFC increases during stress, and chronic administration of dopaminergic agonists results in dendritic remodeling.