Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle Intermediate Pool Size : Functional Importance for Oxidative Metabolism in Exercising Human Skeletal Muscle

The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle is the major final common pathway for oxidation of carbohydrates, lipids and some amino acids, which produces reducing equivalents in the form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide that result in production of large amounts of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) via oxidative phosphorylation. Although regulated primarily by the products of ATP hydrolysis, in particular adenosine diphosphate, the rate of delivery of reducing equivalents to the electron transport chain is also a potential regulatory step of oxidative phosphorylation. The TCA cycle is responsible for the generation of approximately 67% of all reducing equivalents per molecule of glucose, hence factors that influence TCA cycle flux will be of critical importance for oxidative phosphorylation. TCA cycle flux is dependent upon the supply of acetyl units, activation of the three non-equilibrium reactions within the TCA cycle, and it has been suggested that an increase in the total concentration of the TCA cycle intermediates (TCAi) is also necessary to augment and maintain TCA cycle flux during exercise. This article reviews the evidence of the functional importance of the TCAi pool size for oxidative metabolism in exercising human skeletal muscle. In parallel with increased oxidative metabolism and TCA cycle flux during exercise, there is an exercise intensity-dependent 4- to 5-fold increase in the concentration of the TCAi. TCAi concentration reaches a peak after 10-15 minutes of exercise, and thereafter tends to decline. This seems to support the suggestion that the concentration of TCAi may be of functional importance for oxidative phosphorylation. However, researchers have been able to induce dissociations between TCAi pool size and oxidative energy provision using a variety of nutritional, pharmacological and exercise interventions. Brief periods of endurance training (5 days or 7 weeks) have been found to result in reduced TCAi pool expansion at the start of exercise (same absolute work intensity) in parallel with either equivalent or increased oxidative energy provision. Cycloserine inhibits alanine aminotransferase, which catalyses the predominant anaplerotic reaction in exercising human muscle. When infused into contracting rat hindlimb muscle, TCAi pool expansion was reduced by 25% with no significant change in oxidative energy provision or power output. Glutamine supplementation has been shown to enhance TCAi pool expansion at