Glycogen storage in rat liver and skeletal muscle in thermal trauma. III. Effect of adrenal demedullation
Hessman, Y.
Acta Chirurgica Scandinavica 141(6): 473-479
1975
ISSN/ISBN: 0001-5482 PMID: 1189852 Document Number: 94911
Glycogen synthesis is reduced following trauma, especially in skeletal muscle. The author has shown previously that after an experimentally inflicted burn in the rat the glycogen storage in skeletal muscle is about 40% of the normal. In the present study an attempt was made to assess the importance of the endogenous adrenalin production in the adrenal medulla for this reduction in glycogen storage. With this aim the glycogen storage in the liver and skeletal muscle during a standardized glucose infusion was studied 20 hours after infliction of a burn both in rats with intact adrenal glands and in rats subjected to adrenal demedullation. In the muscle the glycogen storage was reduced in both groups, and to the same extent. In the liver no change in glycogen storage was recorded for either group. The results indicate that the catecholamines produced in the adrenal medulla, i.e. mainly adrenalin, are not the only cause of the reduced glycogen storage in skeletal muscle after trauma.