Fructose metabolism in hepatocytes: primary cells or cell lines?

Aims: The beneficial action of D-fructose in parenteral nutrition was attributed to the fact that this hexose is metabolized more rapidly than glucose, and that its metabolization is independent of insulin (1). Since it became known that a high intravenous dose of fructose reduces the intracellular ATP levels in human and murine liver, use of fructose in parenteral nutrition was discontinued. Recently, we reported that effective anti-neoplastic therapy with melphalan requires sufficient intracellular ATP levels (2,3). It still remains open, whether or not fructose-mediated ATP depletion has any significance on c…