Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) is regulated both by covalent modification and through modulation of the active enzyme by metabolites. In the isolated heart, post-ischaemic inhibition of PDH, leading to uncoupling of glycolysis and glucose oxidation and a decrease in cardiac efficiency, has been described. In vivo, post-ischaemic reperfusion leads to metabolic abnormalities consistent with PDH inhibition, but the effects of ischaemia/reperfusion on PDH are not well characterized. We therefore investigated PDH regulation following transient ischaemia in vivo. In 33 open-chest dogs, the left anterior descending (LAD) was occluded for 20 min followed by 4 h reperfusion. In 17 dogs, dichloroacetate (DCA) was injected prior to reperfusion, while 16 dogs served as controls. In dogs without DCA, glucose oxidation and lactate uptake were lower in reperfused than in remote tissue, suggesting reduced flux through PDH. However, percent active and total PDH measured in myocardial biopsies were similar in both territories, excluding covalent enzyme modification or loss of functional enzyme. DCA activated PDH activity similarly in both regions and abolished differences in glucose oxidation and lactate uptake. Thus, decreased PDH flux in reperfused myocardium does not result from covalent modification or loss of total enzyme activity, but more likely from metabolite inhibition of the active enzyme. DCA leads to essentially complete activation of PDH, increases overall glucose utilization and abolishes post-ischaemic inhibition of glucose oxidation.