Abstract
Summary
Changes in body weight and in metabolic parameters were studied during chronic (twice daily) administration of glucagon 0.93 mg and/or epinephrine 0.1 mg to adult male rats. During the 5-day experimental period, fed control and epinephrine-treated animals lost no weight. Glucagon and glucagon-epinephrine animals lost 10–15% of their initial body weight. Fasted animals, control and hormone injected, lost approximately 20% of their initial body weight during the 5-day period. The weight loss by hormone-treated animals was not significantly greater than for controls. Liver glycogen was lowered by fasting and hormone administration. Muscle glycogen and blood glucose levels were lowered by fasting only. Plasma amino acid levels were not altered by fasting but were lower in hormone-treated animals. Changes in carbohydrate parameters usually associated with acute administration of glucagon and epinephrine, i.e., hyperglycemia and glycogen shift from/to liver, to/from muscle, were not observed in adult rats during chronic administration of these hormones.
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