Effects of anabolic steroids on carbohydrate metabolism. I. Experimental study with the use of glycine-1-14C.

Abstract

1) The effects of castration for 25days and norandrostenolone phenylpropionate (NAPP) administration to these castrated animals on the glycogen contents of the liver and rectus femoral muscle were studied. Following the castration remarkable decrease of tissue glycogen was found, which was somewhat prevented by the treatment with NAPP. The ratio of TCA extractable glycogen to total one was almost invariable in every case.2) One mg daily of TP, NAPP, cortisone and cortisone plus TP respectively was injected to young male rats for 3days.The administration of TP and NAPP showed no influence upon the liver glycogen content but in the muscle a considerable increase of glycogen was observed, which was mostly due to an increase of TCA extractable one.The administration of TP in addition to cortisone had little influence upon tissue glycogen already increased markedly by cortisone.3) After the injection of glycine-14C higher 14C-specific activity of tissue glycogen was noted in the animals treated previously with NAPP than in the castrated. The incorporation of 14C due to 14C-glycine administration was observed in liver glycogen first and 3-6 hrs. later in muscle glycogen.Higher radioactivity was found in the residual glycogen than in the TCA extractable one in every case.Therefore it might be suggested that anabolic steroids such as NAPP may have the action to accelerate gluconeogenesis from glycine and other amino acids.Some mechanisms of androgens on carbohydrate metabolism, especially on the gluconeogenesis from amino acids were discussed.