Studies on the Intermediary Carbohydrate Metabolism in Rat Oral Mucosa

¹ Department of Pathology and Oral Histology, St. Louis University School of Dentistry, St. Louis, Missouri

Various intermediary materials of the Embden-Meyerhof pathway and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, plus closely related intermediary materials, were investigated for the ability to stimulate the in vitro oxygen uptake of rat palatal tissue. The following substrates were effective: fructose, fructose-1,6-diphosphate, pyruvate, succinate, fumarate, oxaloacetate, acetate, and glutamate. These results, along with previously reported findings in the literature, suggest that the Embden-Meyerhof pathway and the tricarboxylic acid cycle are functional in rat oral mucosa.