Effect of aging on muscle mitochondrial substrate utilization in humans

Previous studies have implicated age-associated reductions in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation activity in skeletal muscle as a predisposing factor for intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) accumulation and muscle insulin resistance (IR) in the elderly. To further investigate potential alterations in muscle mitochondrial function associated with aging, we assessed basal and insulin-stimulated rates of muscle pyruvate dehydrogenase (VPDH) flux relative to citrate synthase flux (VCS) in healthy lean, elderly subjects and healthy young body mass index- and activity-matched subjects. VPDH/VCS flux was assessed from the (13)C incorporation from of infused [1-13C] glucose into glutamate [4-13C] relative to alanine [3-13C] assessed by LC-tandem MS in muscle biopsies. Insulin-stimulated rates of muscle glucose uptake were reduced by 25% (P