Metabolism of [5-T]fructose by isolated liver cells.

Glucose formed from [5-T]fructose in rat hepatocytes contains about 10 to 30% tritium. This does not appear to be due to fructose metabolism via hexokinase since neither the initial presence of glucose, nor wide variations in the original fructose concentration, have much effect on the relative labeling of glucose versus water from [5-T]fructose. Comparison of the T:14C ratios in glucose produced from [U-14C, 5-T]fructose and D-[U-14C, 2-T]glyceraldehyde indicate that there is tritium retention in the metabolism of fructose via the fructokinase-initiated pathway. The tritium retention can cause significant errors in the estimation of the futile cycle between fructose-1,6-P2 and fructose 6-P, by methods involving the use of [5-T]glucose.