THE EFFECT OF INSULIN ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF GLUCOSE BETWEEN THE BLOOD PLASMA AND THE LIVER IN ALLOXAN-DIABETIC AND ADRENALECTOMIZED RATS

Abstract

In diabetic rats the concentration of glucose in the liver was less than in the plasma. The relative accumulation of glucose in the liver cell after the injection of insulin was also found to be significantly less in previously untreated diabetic than in normal rats. Pretreatment with insulin restored the response to normal. Experiments with labeled glucose indicated that the rate at which glucose is carried through the hepatic cell membrane is very high compared to the rate at which glucose is being formed in the liver cells in diabetic rats. The relatively small amount of glucose accumulating after insulin in livers of diabetic rats originates from the plasma. In adrenalectomized rats which have very little liver glycogen, the relative accumulation of glucose in liver cells, following the injection of insulin, was less than that in normals. These experiments indicate that in normal rats a large part of the glucose retained in the liver after the injection of insulin originates from non-labeled endogenous hepatic sources, presumably glycogen.