Liver amylase and hyperglycaemia

Abstract

Methods are described for differentiating between the glycogen breakdown due to amylase action and due to phosphorylysis in tissue prepns.; the amylase activities of the perfused rabbit liver, perfused muscle and other tissues were measured. The liver amylase activity varied from less than 1 to 50 expressed as mg. glycogen broken down per g. liver per hr. The amylase activities in the liver and blood are generally similar. The liver amylase activity is too high to be accounted for by the amt. of blood loft in the organ. Expts. in which the liver cells were roughly separated from the intercellular fluid belonging to them showed that the liver amylase and phosphorylase occur mainly closely bound to the cells. The liver amylase is evidently derived from the blood and is not concerned in any normal hyperglyeaemic mechanism.