DIURNAL VARIATIONS IN THE ACTION OF INSULIN ON MUSCLE GLYCOGEN SYNTHESIS

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Abstract
SUMMARY: The effect of a single dose of insulin i.u./kg, i.p.) injected every 4 h during a 24-h period was studied in normal mice. The glycogen content of the diaphragm muscle and serum glucose levels were determined every 15 min throughout a period of 60 min after the hormone injection. Although insulin always produced an increase in glycogen and a decline in serum glucose, neither the sequential changes observed during the 60 min after injection nor the magnitude of these changes were constant throughout the 24 h of the day. The two circadian variations in the action of insulin (on glycogen and glucose) did not display any well-defined relationship, i.e. the most marked decline in glucose was not followed by a correspondingly marked increase in glycogen. These observations suggest that the results obtained from the administration of a single dose of insulin at an arbitrary time of day might be misleading. The circadian variations found could represent another component of the complex homeostatic mechanisms in which insulin is involved.

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