Changes in mitochondrial redox state following an oral glucose load.

Changes in cytosol and mitochondrial redox state after an oral glucose load were studied in the liver of rats. The [NAD+]/[NADH] ratios increased 4-fold in the cytoplasm and 1.5-fold in the mitochondria 60 min after an oral glucose load, when serum IRI was maximally increased. It is suggested that an increase in mitochondrial redox state following an oral glucose load is due to an enhanced rate of removal of NADH by the respiratory chain, possibly due to an elevated level of insulin available to hepatocytes, and that an increase in cytosol redox state depends on an enhancement in mitochondrial oxidation of cytosol reducing equivalent.