IntroductionTreatment of rats with the vitamin B12 analogue hydroxy-cobalaminic-lactaml (HCCL) impairs methylmalonyl-CoA mutase function and leads to methylmalonic aciduria due to intracellular accumulation of propionyl and methylmalonyl-CoA.Since accumulation of these acyl-CoAs disrupts normal cellular regulation, the present investigation characterized metabolism in hepatocytes and liver mitochondria from rats treated subcutaneously with HCCL or saline (control) by osmotic minipump. Consistent with decreased methylmalonyl-CoA mutase activity, 14C02 production from 1-"4C-propionate (1 mM) was decreased by 76% and 82% after 2-3 wk and 5-6 wk of HCCL treatment, respectively. In contrast, after 5-6 wk of HCCL treatment, "4CO2 production from 1-"4C-pyruvate (10 mM) and 1-'4C-palmitate (0. Vitamin B 12 (cobalamin) deficiency leads to decreased activity of the cobalamin-requiring enzymes methylmalonyl-CoA mutase and methionine synthetase (1). Decreased activity of methylmalonyl-CoA mutase results in accumulation of methylmalonyl-and propionyl-CoA, and methylmalonic aciduria (2-4). This defect is analogous to the metabolic defect in patients with hereditary methylmalonic acidurias. The vitamin B 12-deficient rat has provided a useful animal model for the human methylmalonic acidurias and allowed the investigation of hepatic metabolism in the presence of this specific, metabolic insult (4-6). Dietary vitamin B 12 deficiency is difficult to achieve, and the resulting metabolic defect shows a high variability between treated animals (7, 8). An alternative methodology to induce decreased activity of methylmalonyl-CoA mutase is treatment with hydroxy-cobalamin [c-lactam] (HCCL),' a synthetic vitamin B 12 analogue (4-6). Rats treated with HCCL develop decreased hepatic vitamin B 12 levels (4), decreased methylmalonyl-CoA mutase and methionine synthetase activity (6), and decreased propionate metabolism with an increased renal excretion of methylmalonic acid (4-6).Increased hepatocellular propionyl and methylmalonylCoA concentrations inhibit several metabolic activities, including gluconeogenesis (9, 10), urea synthesis (9, 11) fatty acid oxidation (11, 12) and pyruvate decarboxylation (13, 14). In contrast, in rats with chronic accumulation of propionyl and methylmalonyl-CoA induced by dietary vitamin B 12 deficiency, gluconeogenetic and ketogenetic responses to fasting were intact in vivo (4), suggesting compensatory mechanisms that mitigate the toxic effects of accumulated acyl-CoAs. One compensatory mechanism in rats with dietary and functional vitamin B 12 deficiency is increased hepatic total CoA concentration (4, 15).To further study hepatic metabolism under conditions of impaired methylmalonyl-CoA mutase activity, hepatic mitochondrial function in HCCL-and saline-treated rats was characterized. Mitochondrial function was quantified by measurement of fuel oxidation rates in isolated hepatocytes and mitochondria. In addition, activities of mitochondrial and extramitochondrial enzymes were determined in isolat...