Abstract
Summary
In rats treated with the ganglionic blocking agent, chlorisondamine, serum glucose fell only 21 ± 6 (SE) mg% during a 24-hr fast, compared to a fall of 53 ± 1 in saline-treated controls (P < 0.001), and another ganglionic blocker, mecamylamine, also lessened the fall in serum glucose during fasting. In 24-hr fasted rats, serum insulin was significantly higher in the chlori-sondamine-treated group than in the controls; liver glycogen was increased and plasma glycine decreased in the chlorisondamine group, while the concentrations of 15 other plasma amino acids and serum FFA were the same in both groups; diaphragm and epididymal fat from chlorisondamine-treated rats and control rats took up the same amount of glucose in vitro in the absence of insulin, but both tissues from the chlorisondamine rats had an increased response to insulin added in vitro. Chlorisondamine given to rats previously fasted for 24 hr significantly increased blood glucose and hepatic glycogen. It is suggested that the effect of ganglionic blocking agents on glucose metabolism may be mediated by stimulation of gluconeogenesis.
The author thanks Dr. Theodore Peters, Jr., for his help in the determination of plasma amino acids. This study was supported by funds from NIH Grant FR 5394.
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