Oxidation and storage of glucose under the action of insulin

Abstract

Experiments published by three of us (B., H., and M.) (1) have demonstrated that, in a spinal animal with the muscles at rest, a large part of the glucose disappearing from the circulation under the action of insulin is deposited as glycogen in the muscles. The view that the remainder, which was in most cases the larger, and in some cases the much larger part, had been oxidized, was quite compatible with the observations of Burn and Dale (2), who had measured the oxygen consumption, but not the glycogen increase, under similar conditions. It was important, however, to put this possibility to a quantitative test by simultaneous measurement of the consumption of oxygen and the accumulation of glycogen in the same preparation. The experiments here described represent such an attempt to make a complete experimental balance sheet, representing the fate of the whole of the glucose. The methods of making the preparation, infusing glucose, and taking samples for analysis were identical with those described in earlier papers ( (1) and (2) ), the eviscerated spinal cat being used in all cases.