Tissue glycogen and blood glucose in irradiated rats. II

Male rats of the Wistar strain were continuously irradiated with 0.57 Gy (60 R) of gamma rays from a 60Co source. Irradiation lasted from 1 to 50 days in an experimental field where also control animals shielded from radiation were placed. After a 16 h starvation, the concentration of glucose in the blood and of glycogen in the liver and the heart was determined 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 25, 32, 39 and 50 days after the beginning of irradiation. The concentration of blood glucose in irradiated rats did not practically differ from that of control animals during the whole period of investigation. The concentration of liver glycogen in irradiated animals was higher than that in the controls during all time intervals, except for day 1. The values of glycogen in the heart muscle were approximately identical in the irradiated and control rats, except for day 21 when they sharply increased in the irradiated animals. In addition to the investigation of blood glucose and tissue glycogen during continuous irradiation, these parameters were studied immediately, and 1, 6 and 12 months after continuous irradiation with a daily exposure of 0.57 Gy (60 R) up to a total exposure of 14.35 Gy (1500 R) of gamma rays. Considerably higher values of liver glycogen were detected in the irradiated rats immediately, and 1 and 6 months after the end of irradiation. (author)