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Regulation of hepatic glycogen in the insulin-like growth factor II-deficient mouse.

Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II), a polypeptide hormone with structural homologies to insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and insulin, regulates the metabolism and growth of many tissues. In this study, we examined the role of IGF-II in hepatic glycogen metabolism in normal and growth-retarded IGF-II-deficient (knockout) mice. Liver glycogen content was significantly lower in the IGF-II knockout than in control livers during embryonic day 18 and postnatal day 0. Biochemical results were verified histologically using a glycogen-specific stain. The enzymatic activity of glycogen synthase, the rate-limiting enzyme for glycogen synthesis, was significantly lower in livers of knockout mice than in livers from wild-type controls on embryonic day 18 and postnatal day 0. The levels of glycogen synthase messenger RNA were not different between the two groups at any age studied, indicating that IGF-II acts posttranscriptionally. Hepatic glycogen content, measured in newborns after food withdrawal, was significantly lower in knockout mice compared with that in wild-type mice after 0, 3, and 6 h of fasting. Blood glucose was significantly lower in knockouts vs. wild-type newborn mice before fasting and was similar in both genotypes after 6 h of fasting. Consistent with this, only 23% of IGF-II knockout newborn mice survived fasting for 12 h, whereas 93% of wild-type mice survived this treatment. These results indicate that IGF-II is required for the regulation of glycogen metabolism of the mouse in the perinatal period, possibly via stimulation of glycogen synthase activity. IGF-II, via perinatal regulation of glycogen synthesis, may regulate fetal growth as well as play an important role in the transition from fetal to postnatal life by protecting the neonate against hypoglycemia during periods of fasting.

Animals↗

Glycogenin-dependent organization of Ascaris suum muscle glycogen.

In Ascaris suum, muscle glycogen is synthesized during host feeding intervals and degraded during nonfeeding intervals. Glycogen accumulation is up to 12-fold greater than that observed in mammalian muscle. Previous studies have established that many aspects of the parasite glycogen metabolism are comparable with the host, but a novel form of glycogen synthase designated GSII also occurs in the parasite. In this report glycogenin has been identified as the core protein in both mature glycogen and the GSII complex. Digestion of GSII complex glycogen generates discreet intermediates that may correspond to a proglycogen pool, whereas digestion of mature glycogen does not generate these intermediates. Because both GSII complex glycogen and mature glycogen serve as GSII substrates, the GSII complex likely represents an intermediate between glycogenin and mature glycogen. The regulation of glycogenin synthesis or the regulation of GSII activity that converts glycogenin to proglycogen, or both, may account for high levels of polysaccharide accumulation that are essential for A. suum survival.

Animals↗

Muscle glycogen resynthesis after short term, high intensity exercise and resistance exercise.

Typical rates of muscle glycogen resynthesis after short term, high intensity exercise (15.1 to 33.6 mmol/kg/h) are much higher than glycogen resynthesis rates following prolonged exercise (approximately 2 mmol/kg/h), even when optimal amounts of oral carbohydrate are supplied (approximately mmol/kg/h). Several factors differ during post-exercise recovery from short term, high intensity exercise compared with prolonged exercise. The extremely fast rate of muscle glycogen resynthesis following short term, high intensity exercise may originate from these differences. First, peak blood glucose levels range from 6.6 to 8.9 mmol/L during recovery from short term, high intensity exercise. This is markedly higher than the blood glucose values of 2 to 3.4 mmol/L after prolonged exercise. In response to this elevation in plasma glucose levels, insulin levels increase to approximately 60 microU/ml, a 2-fold increase over resting values. Both glucose and insulin regulate glycogen synthase activity, and higher levels of them improve muscle glycogen synthesis. Secondly, high intensity exercise produces high levels of glycolytic intermediates in muscle, as well as high lactate levels ([La]) in muscle and blood. Finally, fast-twitch glycolytic muscle fibres are more heavily used in short term, high intensity exercise. This promotes greater glycogen depletion in the fast-twitch fibres, which have a higher level of glycogen synthase activity than slow-twitch fibres. While the exact contribution of each of these factors is unknown, they may act in combination to stimulate rapid muscle glycogen resynthesis rates. Muscle glycogen resynthesis rates following resistance exercise (1.3 to 11.1 mmol/kg/h) are slower than the rates observed after short term, high intensity exercise. This may be caused by slightly lower muscle and blood [La] after resistance exercise. In addition, a greater eccentric component in the resistance exercise may cause some interference with glycogen resynthesis.

Animals↗

Effects of feeding meals with various soluble-carbohydrate content on muscle glycogen synthesis after exercise in horses.

OBJECTIVES: To determine effects of feeding diets with various soluble-carbohydrate (CHO) content on rates of muscle glycogen synthesis after exercise in horses. ANIMALS: 7 fit horses. PROCEDURES: In a 3-way crossover study, horses received each of 3 isocaloric diets (a high soluble CHO [HC] diet, a low soluble CHO [LC] diet, or a mixed soluble CHO [MC] diet). For each diet, horses were subjected to glycogen-depleting exercise, followed by feeding of the HC, LC, or MC diet at 8-hour intervals for 72 hours. RESULTS: Feeding the HC diet resulted in a significantly higher glycemic response for 72 hours and significantly greater muscle glycogen concentration at 48 and 72 hours after exercise, compared with results after feeding the MC and LC diets. Muscle glycogen concentrations similar to baseline concentrations were detected in samples obtained 72 hours after exercise in horses when fed the HC diet. Rate of glycogen synthesis was significantly higher when horses were fed the HC diet, compared with values when horses were fed the MC and LC diets. Glycogen synthase activity was inversely related to glycogen content. Protein content of glucose transporter-4 was the lowest at 72 hours after exercise when horses were fed the HC diet. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Muscle glycogen synthesis was slower after glycogen-depleting exercise in horses, compared with synthesis in humans. Feeding HC meals after strenuous exercise hastened replenishment of muscle glycogen content, compared with results for feeding of LC and MC diets, by increasing availability of blood glucose to skeletal muscles.

Analysis of Variance↗

Effect of sexual maturation and exhaustive exercise on myocardial glycogen metabolism.

Prepubertal, pubertal, and postpubertal (28, 45, and 60 days old, respectively) rats of both sexes were run to exhaustion on a motor-driven treadmill to determine whether sexual maturation was involved in the glycogen sparing phenomenon previously reported in the myocardium of female rats receiving high doses of estrogen. Positive work was calculated and was not different in the male and female age-paired rats. Liver glycogen was significantly depleted by 92-98% in male and 96-97% in female exercising rats of all ages. The exercise bout resulted in significant depletion of glycogen in the red and white portions of the vastus lateralis muscle of male and female animals. At 45 and 60 days of age female animals had significantly more glycogen in the red muscle at exhaustion than age-paired males. Myocardial glycogen was significantly depleted by 32, 38, and 41% in prepubertal and pubertal males and prepubertal females, respectively. Pubertal females depleted myocardial glycogen by 19% (P less than 0.05). Postpubertal male animals exhibited a 46% depletion of myocardial glycogen (P less than 0.01), while myocardial glycogen in sexually mature females was not decreased at exhaustion. These data indicate that a myocardial glycogen sparing phenomenon exists in vivo in sexually mature female rats. These data further suggest that the glycogen sparing phenomenon develops in association with sexual maturation.

Animals↗

Effect of dietary energy on hepatic glycogen metabolism in the turkey hen.

An experiment was conducted with turkey hens to investigate the effect of substituting 30% of the carbohydrate calories with corn oil, 1,3-butanediol, or glycerol. Birds fed additional corn oil had the lowest liver glycogen concentration. Corn oil increased phosphorylase, a total phosphorylase, and glycogen synthetase I in comparison to the controls. Also, additional corn oil resulted in the highest specific activity of glucose-6-phosphatase. Dietary glycerol caused the highest concentration of liver glycogen. Glycerol increased glycogen synthetase I, but had little effect upon total activity in comparison to butanediol in the diet. Both butanediol and glycerol gave similar phosphorylase a activity, but butanediol increased total activity. The fat-fed and control-fed hens regulated hepatic glycogen concentration through phosphorylase, while glycerol and butanediol-fed hens regulated glycogen through glycogen synthetase. In vitro activation of glycogen synthetase I was deficient in hens fed additional corn oil, indicating a lack of glycogen synthetase phosphatase activity. The order of activation (glycerol greater than butanediol greater than control greater than corn oil) corresponds to the rank of glycogen concentrations

Animals↗

Restoration of the glycogen-forming function of hepatocytes in rats with liver cirrhosis is facilitated by a high-carbohydrate diet.

Using cytofluorimetric and biochemical methods, the content of glycogen and its labile and stable fractions, as well as activities of glucose-6-phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.9), glycogen phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1) and glycogen synthase (EC 2.4.1.11) were determined in the rat liver for 6 months after chronic poisoning of the animals with CCl4 and then at 1, 3, and 6 months after the end of the poisoning. One group of rats was given a standard diet, the other, a high-carbohydrate diet. The 6-month long chronic intoxication with CCl4 was shown to produce development of typical liver cirrhosis characterized by a 2.8-fold increase in the total glycogen content in hepatocytes as compared with normal cells, by a fall in the glycogen labile fraction (from 85 to 53% of the total glycogen) as well as by decreases in the activities of glycogen phosphorylase and glucose-6-phosphatase by 25 and 82% respectively. The structural rehabilitation occurred faster and more completely at the cellular level than at the tissue level. Functional variables of the cirrhotic liver tissue also recovered, after cessation of poisoning, faster and more completely than the liver structure at the tissue level: glycogen levels in hepatocytes fell dramatically, the labile: stable glycogen fraction ratio recovered completely, and the activity of glycogen phosphorylase rose to the level characteristic of the normal liver. Use of the high-carbohydrate diet promoted a somewhat faster and more complete recovery of hepatic structure and function.

Animals↗

Regulation of glycogen metabolism in astrocytoma and neuroblastoma cells in culture.

The regulation of glycogen metabolism in C-6 astrocytoma and C-1300 neuroblastoma cells in culture has been investigated. Two modes of control of glycogen metabolism appear to be operative. The regulation of intracellular glycogen concentrations and the predominant forms of glycogen phosphorylase and glycogen synthase vary with (a) the available energy supply, and (b) altered intracellular concentration of cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP). Both cell lines respond to glucose in the medium; when glucose levels are high, glycogen is synthesized, glycogen phosphorylase a decreases, and glycogen synthase a increases. When glucose in the medium decreases to a critical level, the phosphorylase a increases and glycogen concentrations in the cells decrease in aprallel with the medium glucose. The critical glucose concentration is 2.5 mM for the astrocytoma cells and 4 mM for the neuroblastoma cells. Insulin promotes the conversion of phosphorylase to the b form and synthase to the a form in both cell lines. All of these changes occur without alteration in the intracellular cyclic AMP concentrations. When cyclic AMP concentrations are increased in either cell line, phosphorylase a is increased, synthase a is decreased, and glycogen concentrations decrease. Isobutyl methylxanthine is effective in promoting glycogenolysis in both cell lines. Norepinephrine is effective with the astrocytoma cells, and prostaglandin E1 is effective with the neuroblastoma cells.

Astrocytoma↗

NMR measurements of in vivo myocardial glycogen metabolism.

Using 13C and 1H NMR we measured the rate of glycogen synthesis (0.23 +/- 0.10 mumol/min gram wet weight tissue (gww) in rat heart in vivo during an intravenous infusion of D-[1-13C]glucose and insulin. Glycogen was observed within 10 min of starting and increased linearly throughout a 50-min infusion. This compared closely with the average activity of glycogen synthase I (0.22 +/- 0.03 mumol/min gww) measured at physiologic concentrations of UDP-glucose (92 microM) and glucose-6-phosphate (110 microM). When unlabeled glycogen replaced D-[1-13C]glucose in the infusate after 50 min the D-[1-13C]glycogen signal remained stable for another 60 min, indicating that no turnover of the newly synthesized glycogen had occurred. Despite this phosphorylase a activity in heart extracts from rats given a 1 h glucose and insulin infusion (3.8 +/- 2.4 mumol/min gww) greatly exceeded the total synthase activity and if active in vivo should promote glycogenolysis. We conclude that during glucose and insulin infusion in the rat: (a) the absolute rate of myocardial glycogen synthesis can be measured in vivo by NMR; (b) glycogen synthase I can account for the observed rates of heart glycogen synthesis; (c) there is no futile cycling of glucose in and out of heart glycogen; and (d) the activity of phosphorylase a measured in tissue extracts is not reflected in vivo. These studies raise the question whether significant regulation of phosphorylase a activity in vivo is mediated by factors in addition to its phosphorylation state.

Algorithms↗

Growth-related enzymatic control of glycogen metabolism in cultured human tumor cells.

The activities of glycogen synthase and phosphorylase were measured and compared to the growth-related variations of glycogen accumulation in three cultured human tumor cell lines: HT-29 (colon carcinoma); MeWo (malignant melanoma); and RT-4 (carcinoma of the urinary bladder). A similar pattern of variations in the enzyme activities was found in the three cell lines. The activities of the a + b forms of glycogen phosphorylase increased throughout the culture period. Maximal activity of phosphorylase a coincided with low intracellular concentrations of glycogen during the period of exponential growth. When the rate of cell division decreased, phosphorylase a activity also decreased while the glycogen levels increased. Glycogen synthase was almost entirely in b form during the entire culture period, i.e., in both the exponential and the stationary phases. In vitro incubation of the cellular extracts without NaF showed, however, that the enzyme could be partially converted to the a form by the endogenous phosphatases. The A0.5 values of the enzyme for glucose-6-phosphate (Glc-6-P) were of the same order of magnitude as the intracellular Glc-6-P concentrations which ranged from 2.2 to 5.4 mM (almost 10 times those reported in normal cells). Similar Glc-6-P values were obtained by two different extraction methods controlled by the intracellular ATP and ADP concentrations. The Km values for uridine-5'-diphosphoglucose were always 2 to 3 times lower than the intracellular uridine-5'-diphosphoglucose concentrations. These results suggest that: (a) in these tumor cells, glycogen is essentially synthesized by glycogen synthase b via an allosteric activation by intracellular Glc-6-P; (b) there is no obvious growth-related control of glycogen synthase activity; and (c) the activity of glycogen phosphorylase seems to be growth dependent with maximal phosphorylase a activities associated with the period of high division rate.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

The role of phosphate in muscle glycogen.

As previously shown for rabbit liver glycogen, rabbit muscle glycogen contains a small amount of phosphate ester and there is an intermolecular heterogeneity in phosphate content such that the glycogen may be fractionated on DEAE-cellulose into components differing 10-fold in their phosphate contents. We now know that the phosphate ester is of two types, mono and di. The availability of the phosphomonoester component to hydrolysis by alkaline phosphatase is sterically regulated and is highest in the fraction of highest total phosphate content. The ability of the glycogen fractions to act as primers for glycogen synthase also varies with phosphate content, differing overall by > 2-fold. The priming ability increases with increasing phosphate content. We suggest that the phosphate content of a glycogen molecule may be related to its age and that this may be used as a metabolic marker when studying the turnover of glycogen, also that phosphate may be a signal for transport of glycogen to the lysosome. The phosphodiester grouping may act as a point of branching in glycogen, additional to the recognized interglucosidic branch, and is a candidate for the acid- and alkali-labile bond that has been reported in glycogen.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

How does insulin stimulate glycogen synthesis?

One of the important effects of insulin on intracellular metabolism is its ability to stimulate the synthesis of glycogen in muscle and liver. It does this by promoting a net decrease in the extent of phosphorylation of glycogen synthase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the pathway of glycogen synthesis, which increases its activity. Several years ago glycogen synthase was shown to be phosphorylated and inactivated by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase in vitro, suggesting that the effect of insulin on glycogen synthesis, and perhaps other intracellular processes, might be explainable in terms of the ability of the hormone to decrease the concentration of tissue cyclic AMP. However, the subsequent failure to detect a decrease in cyclic AMP concentration in muscle under conditions where glycogen synthase activity was stimulated by insulin, coupled with the discovery of a second glycogen synthase kinase whose activity is unaffected by cyclic nucleotides, now suggests the possibility that insulin may regulate the activity of a different class of protein kinase, through its own "second messenger". The identification and characterization of glycogen synthase kinase-2 and recent information about the regulation of glycogen synthase by phosphorylation-dephosphorylation in vitro and in vivo are presented.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Physiological role of skeletal muscle glycogen in starved mice.

To study the physiological role of skeletal muscle glycogen in starved animals, effects of starvation on glycogen and glycogen phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1.) activity were studied in muscle fibers (morphologic study) and in whole muscles (biochemical study) of the rectus femoris muscle of mouse. Glycogen content in the liver of the starved animals was also measured. PAS reaction, strong in muscle fibers of fed animals, became weak predominantly in type IIB fibers after 2 days and almost disappeared after 4 days of starvation. Glycogen particles, numerous in the sarcoplasm between myofibrils of muscle fibers, decreased markedly predominantly in type IIB fibers after 2 days and almost disappeared after 4 days. Phosphorylase a activity, undetected in fibers of fed mice, appeared weak in type IIB fibers and very weak in type IIA fibers after 2 days and became moderate in type IIB fibers and weak in type IIA fibers after 4 days. Muscle glycogen content did not differ by 16 hours from the values of corresponding fed animals. However, liver glycogen content had already decreased after 8 hours and markedly so after 12 hours. The results support our hypothesis-"skeletal muscle glycogen is used for maintaining the blood glucose level in starved mice" (Hirose et al.: Anat. Rec., 216:133-138, 1986)-and show that type IIB fibers play a main role in maintaining the glucose level and that muscle glycogen is utilized after depletion of liver glycogen.

Animals↗

Hepatic glucose uptake, gluconeogenesis and the regulation of glycogen synthesis.

Hepatic glycogen is replenished during the absorptive period postprandially. This repletion is prompted partly by an increased hepatic uptake of glucose by the liver, partly by metabolite and hormonal signals in the portal vein, and partly by an increased gluconeogenic flux to glycogen (glyconeogenesis). There is some evidence that the direct formation of glycogen from glucose and that formed by gluconeogenic pathways is linked. This includes: (i) the inhibition of all glycogen synthesis, in vivo, when gluconeogenic flux is blocked by inhibitors; (ii) a dual relationship between glucose concentrations, lactate uptake by the liver and glycogen synthesis (by both pathways) which indicates that glucose sets the maximal rates of glycogen synthesis while lactate uptake determines the actual flux rate to glycogen; (iii) the decrease of both gluconeogenesis and glycogen synthesis by the biguanide, metformin; and (iv) correlations between increased gluconeogenesis and liver glycogen in obese patients and animal models. The degree to which the liver extracts portal glucose is not entirely agreed upon although a preponderance of evidence points to about a 5% extraction rate, following meals, which is dependent on a stimulation of glucokinase. This enzyme may be linked to the expression of other enzymes in the gluconeogenic pathway. Perivenous cells in the liver may induce additional gluconeogenesis in the periportal cells by increasing glycolytically produced lactate. A number of potential mechanisms therefore exist which could link glycogen synthesis from glucose and gluconeogenic substrate.

Animals↗

Effect of hypoglycemia on brain glycogen metabolism in vivo.

The brain contains a small but significant amount of glycogen, which has long been considered to play an insignificant role in the brain. In this study, brain glycogen metabolism was measured using (13)C NMR spectroscopy at 9.4 T. Brain glycogen metabolism was modulated by hyperinsulinemia resulting in a net accumulation. The role of glycogen in maintaining brain function is unknown; one possibility is that it may serve as an endogenous glucose reservoir to protect the brain against severe hypoglycemia. To address this possibility, rats were subjected to insulin-induced moderate hypoglycemia and when the level of brain glucose approached zero, brain glycogen content began to decrease gradually, demonstrating utilization of this glucose reservoir. The brain glycogen signal never became undetectable, however, even during 2 hr of hypoglycemia. When plasma and brain glucose concentrations were restored, glycogen increased and the concentration exceeded the pre-hypoglycemic level by several-fold. The data suggest that brain glycogen can provide fuel for extended periods of time when glucose supply is inadequate. Furthermore, brain glycogen can rebound (super-compensate) after a single episode of hypoglycemia. We postulate that brain glycogen serves as an energy store during hypoglycemia and that it may participate in the creation of reduced physiological responses to hypoglycemia that are involved in a symptom often observed in patients with diabetes, hypoglycemia unawareness.

Animals↗

The altricial pigeon is born blind with a transient glycogen cataract.

The lens nucleus of altricial birds contains a large amount of glycogen. It is not known why glycogen in such concentration does not cause a trace of lens opalescence. Here we report that the altricial pigeon is born with a dense nuclear opacity; this opacity has practically disappeared by 4 weeks of age. Thin-section electron microscopy revealed that the opacity was specifically associated with an enormous number of large glycogen aggregates in nuclear fiber cells. These aggregates of various sizes (up to approximately 5 microns) were composed of smaller individual 35-nm beta glycogen particles. In contrast, glycogen aggregates were not seen in nuclear fiber cells of all transparent older lenses. The glycogen aggregates have gradually dissociated into a homogeneous distribution of individual beta particles in the entire cytoplasm of nuclear fibers which accompanies the development of lens transparency. This study suggests that an extensive accumulation of glycogen aggregates in the lens nucleus is the cause of light scattering and opacification. The transparency of the altricial pigeon lens during normal development is therefore regulated by two different forms of glycogen. Precocial birds such as chick have no lens glycogen, therefore never develop a glycogen cataract and have excellent visual acuity upon hatching.

Agglutination↗

Myocardial glycogen depletion cannot explain the cardioprotective effects of ischemic preconditioning in the rat heart.

The mechanism of ischemic preconditioning remains unknown. The role of glycogen depletion prior to prolonged ischemia was examined as a potential mechanism of ischemic preconditioning. The glycogen content of the rat heart varies in a 24-h rhythm. In a retrospective study, the relationships between the time of day the animals were sacrificed, pre-ischemic myocardial glycogen content, and post-ischemic functional recovery were assessed in non-conditioned and ischemically preconditioned hearts. The analyses were performed on previously published data (Asimakis et al.. 1992, 1993). After an equilibration perfusion, isolated rat hearts were given 40 min of global ischemia followed by 30 min of reperfusion. Preconditioned hearts received 5 min of ischemia followed by a 5-min recovery period prior to the 40-min ischemic period. Some of the hearts were freeze-clamped immediately prior to the 40-min ischemic period to determine pre-ischemic glycogen content. Pre-ischemic glycogen was higher in the morning than afternoon. The time of day correlated significantly with the pre-ischemic glycogen content of non-conditioned (r = 0.67; P < 0.005) and preconditioned (r = 0.79; P < 0.001) hearts. However, time of day did not correlate significantly with post-ischemic recovery of heart rate x developed pressure (HR x DP) on end-diastolic pressure (EDP) in either the non-conditioned or preconditioned hearts. The relationships were also assessed by subdividing the groups into either morning (a.m.) or afternoon (p.m.) hearts. The pre-ischemic glycogen content was lower in the non-conditioned-p.m. (n = 5) hearts compared to the non-conditioned-a.m. (n = 10) hearts (67.6 +/- 9.0 nu 128.1 +/- 13.3 nmol glucose/mg protein P < 0.005). However, there were no significant differences between p.m. (n = 13) and a.m. (n = 9) non-conditioned hearts with respect to post-ischemic recovery of HR x DP (20.6 +/- 4 nu 12.0 +/- 4% of baseline, respectively, P = N.S.). In contrast, preconditioned-p.m. (n = 6) and -a.m. (n = 7) had pre-ischemic glycogen contents of 49.6 +/- 6 and 76.6 +/- 5.0 nmol glucose/mg protein, respectively. These glycogen values were not significantly different from the non-conditioned-p.m. hearts (67.6 nmol/mg protein). However, post-ischemic recovery of HR x DP in the preconditioned-p.m. (n = 5) and -a.m. (n = 6) hearts were 54.6 +/- 5 and 51.4 +/- 8% of baseline, respectively (these values were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the recovery for the non-conditioned-p.m. and -a.m. hearts). The results imply that the cardioprotection of ischemic preconditioning cannot be explained solely by myocardial glycogen depletion.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Glucose utilization and glycogen turnover are accelerated in hypertrophied rat hearts during severe low-flow ischemia.

We undertook this study to determine if the metabolism of exogenous glucose and glycogen in hypertrophied hearts differed from that in normal hearts during severe ischemia. Thus, rates of glycolysis (3H2O production) and oxidation (14CO2 production) from exogenous glucose and glycogen were measured in isolated working control (n = 13) and hypertrophied (n = 12) hearts from sham-operated and aortic-banded rats during 40 min of severe low-flow ischemia. Hearts, in which glycogen was prelabelled with [5-3H]- or [14C]-glucose, were paced and perfused with Krebs-Henseleit solution containing 1.2 mM palmitate, 5.5 mM [5-3H]- or [14C]-glucose (different from the isotope used to label glycogen), 0.5 mM lactate and 100 microU/ml insulin during ischemia. Rates of glycolysis from exogenous glucose (3301 +/- 122 v 2467 +/- 167 nmol/min/g dry wt, mean +/- S.E.M., P < 0.05) and glucose from glycogen (808 +/- 27 v 725 +/- 21 nmol/min/g dry wt, P < 0.05) were accelerated in hypertrophied hearts compared to control hearts. However, rates of oxidation of exogenous glucose and glucose from glycogen were not significantly different between the two groups. As observed in normoxic non-ischemic hearts, glucose from glycogen was preferentially oxidized compared to exogenous glucose. Additionally, rates of glycogen synthesis (167 +/- 7 v 140 +/- 9 nmol/min/g dry wt, P < 0.05) were increased in hypertrophied hearts compared to control hearts during severe low-flow ischemia indicating that glycogen turnover (i.e. simultaneous synthesis and degradation) was accelerated in the hypertrophied heart. Thus, we demonstrate that glucose utilization and glycogen turnover are accelerated in the hypertrophied heart during severe low-flow ischemia as compared to the normal heart.

Animals↗