Hagve M, Gjessing PF, Fuskevåg OM, Larsen TS, Irtun Ø. Skeletal muscle mitochondria exhibit decreased pyruvate oxidation capacity and increased ROS emission during surgery-induced acute insulin resistance. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 308: E613-E620, 2015. First published February 10, 2015; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00459.2014.-Development of acute insulin resistance represents a negative factor after surgery, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We investigated the postoperative changes in insulin sensitivity, mitochondrial function, enzyme activities, and release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in skeletal muscle and liver in pigs on the 2nd postoperative day after major abdominal surgery. Peripheral and hepatic insulin sensitivity were assessed by D-[6,6-2 H2]glucose infusion and hyperinsulinemic euglycemic step clamping. Surgical trauma elicited a decline in peripheral insulin sensitivity (ϳ34%, P Ͻ 0.01), whereas hepatic insulin sensitivity remained unchanged. Intramyofibrillar (IFM) and subsarcolemma mitochondria (SSM) isolated from skeletal muscle showed a postoperative decline in ADP-stimulated respiration (VADP) for pyruvate (ϳ61%, P Ͻ 0.05, and ϳ40%, P Ͻ 0.001, respectively), whereas VADP for glutamate and palmitoyl-Lcarnitine (PC) was unchanged. Mitochondrial leak respiration with PC was increased in SSM (1.9-fold, P Ͻ 0.05) and IFM (2.5-fold, P Ͻ 0.05), indicating FFA-induced uncoupling. The activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) was reduced (ϳ32%, P Ͻ 0.01) and positively correlated to the decline in peripheral insulin sensitivity (r ϭ 0.748, P Ͻ 0.05). All other mitochondrial enzyme activities were unchanged. No changes in mitochondrial function in liver were observed. Mitochondrial H2O2 and O2 ·Ϫ emission was measured spectrofluorometrically, and H2O2 was increased in SSM, IFM, and liver mitochondria (ϳ2.3-, ϳ2.5-, and ϳ2.3-fold, respectively, all P Ͻ 0.05). We conclude that an impairment in skeletal muscle mitochondrial PDC activity and pyruvate oxidation capacity arises in the postoperative phase along with increased ROS emission, suggesting a link between mitochondrial function and development of acute postoperative insulin resistance.reactive oxygen species; surgery; insulin resistance; mitochondria; skeletal muscle; liver AFTER SURGERY, the development of an acute transitory state of insulin resistance has been identified as a negative factor associated with increased morbidity and hospital stay (45), but the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying this condition are not fully elucidated. The decline in insulin sensitivity in the postoperative phase has been thoroughly documented and is reflected mainly by impaired glucose disposal in peripheral tissues, primarily skeletal muscle (21, 36).Oxidative glucose disposal in skeletal muscle is regulated by the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC), which is an enzyme complex that regulates the flux of glucose-borne pyruvate into the mitochondria by converting pyruvate to acetylCoA, which subsequently enters the ...