Glucose uptake, hexose monophosphate shunt activity, and oxygen consumption in cultured human retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) was isolated from human donors with no known eye disease and normal-appearing fundi and was grown in culture. Population doubling times were measured for fifth passage RPE cells; the mean was 2.25 +/- 0.75 days and showed a correlation with the age of the donor. Metabolic studies were performed by perfusing the cells with 1-[13C]-D-glucose and monitoring the perfusate with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Glucose uptake was 10.5 +/- 3.3 nmoles/min/mg protein. Lactate production from glucose was 20.0 +/- 5.00 nmoles/min/mg protein. The percentage of glucose through the hexose monophosphate shunt was 21 +/- 2%. Oxygen (O) consumption was measured at 20.1 +/- 4.1 nmoles O/min/mg endogenous and 14.5 +/- 4.8 nmoles O/min/mg with 10 mM glucose. These cells exhibit high rates of lactate production concomitantly with high oxygen consumptions and high flux through the hexose monophosphate shunt.