Metabolic remodeling triggered by salivation and diabetes in major salivary glands

The metabolic profile of major salivary glands was evaluated by ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance isotopomer analysis (¹³C NMR‐IA) following the infusion of [U‐¹³C]glucose in order to define the true metabolic character of submandibular (SM) and parotid (PA) glands at rest and during salivary stimulation, and to determine the metabolic remodeling driven by diabetes. In healthy conditions, the SM gland is characterized at rest by a glycolytic metabolic profile and extensive pyruvate cycling. On the contrary, the PA gland, although also dominated by glycolysis, also possesses significant Krebs’ cycle activity and does not sustain extensive pyruvate cycling. Under stimulation, both glands increase their glycolytic and Krebs’ cycle fluxes, but the metabolic coupling between the two pathways is further compromised to account for the much increased biosynthetic anaplerotic fluxes. In diabetes, the responsiveness of the PA gland to a salivary stimulus is seriously hindered, mostly as a result of the incapacity to burst glycolytic activity and also an inability to improve the Krebs’ cycle flux to compensate. The Krebs’ cycle activity in the SM gland is also consistently compromised, but the glycolytic flux in this gland is more resilient. This diabetes‐induced metabolic remodeling in SM and PA salivary glands illustrates the metabolic need to sustain adequate saliva production, and identifies glycolytic and oxidative pathways as key players in the metabolic dynamism of salivary glands.