THE INFLUENCE OF ADRENALINE ON CARDIAC GLYCOGEN

¹ The Departments of Pharmacology and Medical Chemistry, University of Edinburgh

1. Asphyxia of rats rapidly reduces the glycogen content of the heart to one-fifth of its normal value, but only to three-fifths of its normal value when the influence of the adrenal glands is excluded.

2. Large doses of adrenaline, in the absence of asphyxia, reduce the cardiac glycogen to one-half after twenty-five minutes, but full recovery occurs in the subsequent half-hour.

3. Adrenaline therefore causes depletion of cardiac glycogen in both normal and in asphyxiated rats.

The author wishes to acknowledge his great indebtedness to Professor A. J. Clark and Dr. C. P. Stewart for their advice and criticism. The expenses of these experiments were defrayed by a grant from the Moray Fund, for which the author desires to express his thanks.