Interactions of glucagon and fructose in the control of glycogenolysis in perfused rat liver

Abstract

By measuring the specific radioactivity of glucose released from isolated perfused livers of normal, fed rats in the presence of [U-14C]fructose, the gluconeogenetic and glycogenolytic contributions to glucose production were estimated. After 20 min of perfusion with 4 mM fructose, glycogenolysis was inhibited by 40% in the absence and by 70% in the presence of glucagon (3 nM). Glucagon decreased the release of lactate plus pyruvate and enhanced glucose formation from fructose without affecting its uptake. Glycerol (4 mM) and xylitol (3 mM) had qualitatively similar, but smaller effects on glucagon-stimulated glycogenolysis. The glucagon-mediated phosphorylase b to a conversion was not altered by fructose, indicating that glycogenolysis was decreased as a consequence of an inhibition of phosphorylase a. During the first minutes after the addition of fructose, decreased ATP/AMP ratios and tissue Pi levels correlated with a transient increase of phosphorylase a activity. It was concluded that the effects of fructose on the control of hepatic glycogenolysis and glucose production were the result of a complex interplay between a transient b to a conversion of phosphorylase and an inhibition of the a-form of the enzyme, possibly by fructose 1-phosphate and other phosphorylated metabolites.