[Effect of adrenaline on blood glucose and glycogen in catfish tissues]

The effects of epinephrine injected intraperitoneally (5 mg/kg body weight) on the catfish carbohydrate metabolism were studied. Epinephrine caused a very high and persisting hyperglycemia, the highest value of which was 340 +/- 21 mg/100 ml of blood (control value: 75 +/- 6 mg/100 ml) at 24th hour after the administration. Moreover, epinephrine caused glycogenolysis in liver: from 127 +/- 10 to 95 +/- 8 mg/g of tissue. In white muscle the lowering of glycogen happened just after the epinephrine injection and reached the lowest value (1,6 +/- 0,3 mg/g) at 2,5 hours after the administration (control value: 2,9 +/- 0,4 mg/g). A glycogen decrease took place in red muscle with a great delay, but was still present 48 hours after administration (control value: 17,5 +/- 1,8 mg/g; sample value: 11,2 +/- 3,2 mg/g). The increase of glucose level in blood could be referred to glycogenolytic processes in liver. As far as musculature is concerned, red muscle probably plays a role in recovering the glycogen level in white muscle.