EFFECT OF EPINEPHRINE INFUSION AND ADRENERGIC BLOCKADE ON GLUCOSE OXIDATION IN CONSCIOUS DOGS

Abstract

The effect of combined alpha- and beta-adrenergic blockade, and the effect of epinephrine infusion, on the rate of glucose oxidation has been tested in conscious dogs. The dogs were prepared seven to ten days before the experiment with chronic catheters and tracheostomy. Glucose oxidation was measured by means of the primed-constant infusion of U-14C-glucose and indirect calorimetry. Six experimental groups were tested. In all groups, insulin and glucagon concentrations were held constant throughout by the inhibition of their secretion with somatostatin and intraportal replacement at basal rates. All experiments consisted of two two-hour periods. In half of the experiments, combined alpha- and beta-adrenergic blockade was administered in the second period, and in the other experiments, epinephrine was infused in the second period. The adrenergic blockade or epinephrine infusion (E) was performed in three different groups. In one, free fatty acid (FFA) levels were allowed to change spontaneously in response to blockade or E; in a second group, liposyn and heparin were infused throughout periods 1 and 2 in order to maintain FFA levels at high, constant levels; and in a third group, FFA levels were maintained at a constant low level in periods 1 and 2 by means of an infusion of nicotinic acid. In all cases tested, epinephrine infusion caused an increase in the rate of glucose oxidation. Adrenergic blockade also caused an increase in glucose oxidation when FFA levels were allowed to spontaneously fall; but when FFA levels were held constant (either high or low), there was no effect on glucose oxidation. When changes in plasma kinetics of glucose were accounted for, no significant change in the percentage of glucose uptake oxidized was recorded in any group. We conclude that neither sympathetic nervous system activity nor epinephrine infusion causes a decrement in the ability to oxidize a given amount of glucose.