Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Detecting Glycogen in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells with Periodic Acid Schiff Staining
Published on: December 23, 2014
Age-related changes of glycogen metabolism in human fetal heart
Abstract:
The changes in the activities of three important glycogen metabolising enzymes, viz. glycogen synthetase, glycogen phosphorylase and alpha-D-glucosidase, along with glycogen content have been measured in adult human heart and human fetal heart collected at 13-36 weeks of gestation. At an early period, particularly 13-16 weeks of gestational age, the activity of glycogen synthetase and glycogen content were found to be maximum. However the activity of glycogen phosphorylase remained constant throughout the gestation and that of alpha-D-glucosidase showed a peak at 25-28 weeks of gestation, thereby indicating that fetal heart tissue has the capacity to utilise glycogen for energy.
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Carbohydrate Metabolism
Glucose transport into cells is facilitated by a family of transport proteins called GLUT (Glucose Transporters). GLUT4 is the primary glucose transporter for insulin-stimulated glucose...
Metabolic States of the Body: The Postabsorptive State
Initially, glycogen stored in the liver is broken down to release glucose into the bloodstream, while glycogen in the muscles is broken down to supply glucose for energy directly within the muscle cells. As glycogen stores diminish,...
Metabolic States of the Body: Fasting and Starvation
Glucose Homeostasis: Regulation of Blood Glucose
During fasting, when blood glucose levels are low, the pancreas secretes glucagon. it...

