Metabolism of succinic acid methyl esters in myocytes.

The metabolism of the dimethyl ester of succinic acid (SAD) was examined in myocytes. When expressed in terms of CO(2) output, the oxidation of SAD (10 mM) only represented 30-40% of that of an equimolar concentration of D-glucose. Except for a modest decrease in D-[5-(3)H]glucose utilization, SAD failed to affect the catabolism of exogenous D-glucose. SAD also failed, like D-glucose, to augment O(2) consumption by the myocytes. These findings indicate that SAD is less efficiently metabolized in myocytes than in hepatocytes or pancreatic islets. It is nevertheless argued that the methyl esters of succinic acid could be efficiently used as nutrients by myocytes in situations of ATP depletion.