Contribution of long chain fatty acids to the energy supply of the rat kidney cortex.

Tubular fragments from rat kidney cortex were isolated by collagenase and suspended in an incubation medium containing a combination of several renal substrates. Substrate concentrations were in the physiological range. O2 uptake, total CO2 production, and the 14CO2 production from U-14C-labeled palmitate and oleate were measured. During the first minutes of incubation the CO2 production from palmitate and oleate was 10.5% or 6.3%, respectively, of the total CO3 produced. The RQ was 0.897. A subsequent decrease of the total CO2 production at a constant uptake of oxygen indicated a rising contribution of fatty acids to the fuel of respiration. The renal preference for substrates other than longchain fatty acids is discussed.