The effect of redox potential on protein degradation was assessed in rat hearts supplied either glucose or pyruvate, and the correlation between redox state and proteolysis was examined after the addition of insulin and leucine. In hearts supplied glucose as the sole energy source, the inhibition of protein degradation by a range of concentrations of insulin was associated with increased ratios of perfusate lactate to pyruvate and intracellular lactate to pyruvate, malate to pyruvate, and NADH to NAD. However, the extent of inhibition did not correlate with the redox state. The inhibitory effect of leucine on protein degradation was not accompanied by any change in redox state of the hearts. In hearts provided with pyruvate, rates of protein degradation continued to be inhibited by insulin even though the perfusate lactate to pyruvate was decreased by 14-fold and the calculated cytosolic NADH-to-NAD ratios were only 3% of those seen in hearts supplied glucose. These results indicated that a correlation between redox state and protein degradation was not apparent in myocardium under the experimental conditions examined.