Responses to catecholamines in perfused livers of hypothalamic-lesioned rats

The responses of hepatic glycogenolysis to catecholamines in ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)-lesioned male rats were examined in perfused livers. Seven days after bilateral electrical lesioning of the VMH, the livers were perfused. Isoproterenol, a beta-agonist, stimulated greater glucose production in VMH-lesioned rats than in controls (32.8 vs. 5.6 mumol glucose.h-1.g liver-1), while responses to phenylephrine, an alpha-agonist, decreased significantly compared with controls (44.4 vs. 69.8 mumol glucose.h-1.g liver-1). There were no significant differences in responses of livers to glucagon and vasopressin between control and VMH-lesioned rats. Adrenodemedullation showed the same effect on beta-responses as lesions in the VMH, but no effect on alpha-responses. Plasma epinephrine levels were not detectable with the high-performance liquid chromatography analysis in VMH-lesioned rats. The periodicity of plasma corticosterone levels was observed in both VMH-lesioned and control rats, although daytime increases in plasma corticosterone were blocked by VMH lesions. These results suggest that the lesions in the VMH cause changes in the levels of adrenergic receptor and that the increase in beta-responses is caused mostly by the reduction of plasma epinephrine.