A new approach to the measurement of glycerol turnover

Abstract

These studies describe a new method, using a single bolus injection of labelled glycerol, to measure glycerol turnover. In a series of experiments utilizing single animals, this new approach was compared with the previously used method of constant tracer infusion. The two gave identical results. In the bolus method, once the time of maximum glycerol specific activity had been established, glycerol turnover could be calculated using very few additional data points obtained over a very short time span. This simplification was possible because the decay of glycerol specific activity was found to conform to a straight line on a plot of the logarithm of the specific activity versus the logarithm of the time. This new approach should simplify the measurement of glycerol turnover and should permit the determination of the rate of glycerol transformation to other end products.