Relations between fatty acid synthesis, pyruvate concentration and cell concentration of suspensions of isolated rat hepatocytes.

The cell concentration of suspensions of isolated rat hepatocytes affects both the rate of pyruvate accumulation in the incubation medium and the rate of fatty acid synthesis. At low cell concentrations pyruvate accumulation is directly related to the cell concentration but levels off at higher concentrations even when maximum pyruvate concentrations in the medium are not yet reached. The rate of fatty acid synthesis in the 30-60-min incubation interval is proportional to the cell concentration. In contrast, the rate of fatty acid synthesis during the 0-30-min incubation period decreases with increasing cell concentrations and subsequently becomes independent of the cell concentration.