Glucose and palmitate metabolism by beating rat heart cells in culture.

The metabolism of glucose and palmitate by new born rat heart cell in tissue culture was investigated to ascertain the usefulness of this model system for metabolic studies. Heart cells in culture oxidize palmitate at a rate which is close to the rate reported in vivo. The fate of glucose is shown to differ from in vivo. High rates of lactate release are observed although there are many evidences that cells are not hypoxic. This impaired regulation is likely due to an impaired uptake of glucose.