THE GLYCOSTATIC ACTION OF PURIFIED GROWTH HORMONE1

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Abstract
When food is withheld from hypophysectomized rats, the carbohydrate stores of the body become depleted more rapidly than in normal rats. The liver glycogen and blood glucose begin to fall within a few hours, and later the glycogen content of muscle (gastrocnemius) declines to levels well below those seen in normal rats even after prolonged fasting (Russell and Bennett, 1937). During a 24-hour fast, the muscle glycogen can be maintained at normal values or above by treatment through this time with alkaline anterior pituitary extracts, an action termed a “glycostatic” effect (Russell and Bennett, 1936; Russell, 1938). This effect is independent of the adrenal cortex (Bennett, 1938; Bennett and Perkins, 1945). In early tests of a variety of pituitary fractions (Russell, 1938), crude unfractioned extracts were found to be most active, and no relationship was indicated between the glycostatic factor and any of the known anterior lobe hormones.