Studies on Blood Glucose and Hepatic Glycogen in Rats Force-fed a Threonine-devoid Diet

Abstract

This study was designed to determine whether young rats force-fed a purified diet devoid of a single essential amino acid develop alterations in blood glucose tolerance. The results indicate that young rats force-fed for 1 to 3 days a threonine-devoid diet in comparison with those force-fed a complete diet have an impaired glucose tolerance response following the intravenous administration of glucose. Also, 16 to 18 hours after the last feeding, the animals force-fed the threonine-devoid diet have a two- to threefold elevation of hepatic glycogen over that in animals force-fed the complete diet. The hepatic glycogen in both control and experimental animals becomes depleted to a similar degree after the administration of epinephrine, glycine, insulin or glucagon. The administration of 14C-glucose intraperitoneally to animals force-fed the deficient or complete diet for 3 days resulted in greater incorporation into hepatic glycogen by experimental than of control animals.