Abstract
In a previous report 1 it was pointed out that dogs under amytal anesthesia exhibited a decreased capacity to assimilate injected glucose. Preliminary to a study of factors influencing the distribution of injected glucose, it was desirable to know whether this effect of amytal was a quantitative one affecting all tissues or whether its effect was limited primarily to certain tissues.
A comparison of glycogen formation in the unanesthetized and anesthetized (amytal) animal has been made in experiments on 8 dogs. Samples of liver and muscle tissue frog glycogen determinations were quickly removed under light ethylene anesthesia. One hour later glucose was injected at the rate of 3 gm. per kilo of body weight per hour for a period of 3 hours. One hour later when the blood sugar had returned to approximately its original value, samples of tissue were removed from the opposite side for analysis.
It was found that approximately the same increase in muscle glycogen had occurred in animals with or without amytal anesthesia. (Table I.) However, the increase in liver glycogen was over twice as great in the unanesthetized animals as in the experiments in which the glucose injections were made under amytal anesthesia. Because of this finding we believe that animals under this anesthetic are not suitable for experimentation in problems concerning carbohydrate storage.
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