Liver glucokinase of the biotin deficient rat

Abstract

The physiological role of liver ATP D-glucose-6-phosphotransferase with a high Km for glucose is now well recognized. The activity of this enzyme (glucokinase) is greatly reduced in the liver of the starving or diabetic animal. Results show that glucokinase is reduced by 40-45% in the biotin deficient rat liver. The specific activity of this enzyme decreases during fasting in both control and deficient rat livers. The extent of the increase in glucokinase activity of the deficient rats following refeeding is considerably lower than in control animals. When biotin deficient rats are given either biotin or insulin or both, the liver glucokinase activity is restored to the control level within 24 hr.