Role of Fetal Insulin in Glycogen Metabolism in the Liver of the Rat Fetus

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Abstract
In the near-term rat fetus liver, insulin decreased phosphorylase a activity, slightly increased synthase a activity and increased both glycogen content and 14C-glucose incorporation into glycogen; anti-insulin serum increased phosphorylase a activity and decreased glucose incorporation but did not modify synthase a activity. When pregnant rats were previously rendered hypoglycemic, insulin injection to the fetus enhanced glycogen accumulation. It is concluded that insulin is a regulatory factor of secondary importance for liver glycogen storage through its action on phosphorylase activity.