The Stimulation of Glycogen Synthesis and of Glycogen Synthetase in the Liver by the Administration of Glucose

Abstract

The intravenous administration of glucose to the mouse stimulates 15–20 and up to 40‐fold the conversion of glucose to glycogen in the liver. This effect is observed in the normally fed as well as in the fasted animal and requires 5 min to reach its full development. At that time, the hepatic concentration of glucose 6‐phosphate and of UDPG is markedly lowered whereas the activity of glycogen synthetase, when measured in a concentrated liver homogenate, is greatly increased. The rate of glycogen synthesis is not correlated with the concentration of glucose in the liver but is highly significantly correlated with the activity of liver glycogen synthetase.