Effect of Glucose administered in vivo or in vitro on the Respiratory Quotient of Rat Liver Tissue after Partial Hepatectomy

Abstract

AFTER partial hepatectomy, the respiratory quotient of liver tissue has been found to decrease to about 0.7, which suggests predominant utilization of lipids¹. As early as in the first hours after surgery a decrease of glycogen and an increase of lipids can be observed². In these circumstances, however, marked enhancement of lipids in liver tissue probably does not represent a manifestation of a degenerative process. The lipids increase mainly in the peripheral cells of the liver lobules, where the processes connected with liver regeneration are most conspicuous^3,4 and thus provide a substance which, after partial hepatectomy, is utilized by liver tissue as the main source of energy. Under normal conditions, the energy of the liver tissue in rats fed ad libitum with a mixed diet is obtained by combustion of glycids, which is shown by the respiratory quotient near 1 (ref. 5). We therefore wondered whether the liver tissue after partial hepatectomy, when its respiratory quotient has decreased, is able to utilize glucose for its energetic metabolism if glucose is offered in excess during the acute experiment.