CARBOHYDRATE AND ACETONE BODY METABOLISM OF LIVER SLICES AND THE EFFECT OF INSULIN

Abstract

Insulin affected both the rate of glycogenolysis and the rate of accumulation of new carbohydrate when it was added to prepns. of rat liver slices incubated in the rats'' own serum. When the initial glycogen content was high, insulin accelerated glycogenolysis irrespective of whether the rat was normal or diabetic. No stimulation of glycogen deposition could be demonstrated in any prepn. In slices of liver from normal fed animals insulin increased the rate of accumulation of new carbohydrate; in diabetic prepns. this rate, already excessive, was consistently decreased by insulin. The addition of insulin did not influence the rate of acetone body production in normal or diabetic prepns.