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CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM IN RELATION TO THE THYROID GLAND. III. THE EFFECT OF THYROIDECTOMY IN RATS ON THE GASEOUS METABOLISM
Author(s) -
Cramer W.,
M'Call R.
Publication year - 1918
Publication title -
quarterly journal of experimental physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1469-445X
pISSN - 0370-2901
DOI - 10.1113/expphysiol.1918.sp000252
Subject(s) - thyroid , metabolism , endocrinology , medicine , glycogen , carbohydrate metabolism , respiratory quotient , hormone , thyroidectomy , biology , excretion , carbohydrate , chemistry
In rats, removal of the thyroid and the parathyroid glands does not produce any severe disturbance of the metabolism. There is at first a diminution of the total metabolism, which is followed later by a compensatory increase. The curves of the CO 2 excretion and O 2 intake and of the respiratory quotient do not differ in any essential points from those of a normal animal. The study of the respiratory quotient and of the urine shows that remnoval of the thyroid gland does not impair the power of the cells of the organism to oxidise carbohydrates. From this it can be inferred that the condition of the carbohydrate metabolism in experimental hyperthyroidism is not due to a direct stimulating effect of the thyroid hormone on the oxidation of carbohydrates. This inference, as has been pointed out in our previous paper, is in agreement with other observations on experimental and pathological hyperthyroidism. These conclusions confirm the conception of the carbohydrate metabolism presented in our previous paper, according to which the mobilisation of the liver glycogen is followed by an increased oxidation of carbohydrates. The mechanism through which the thyroid gland exercises its action on carbohydrate metabolism, and the inter‐relationship of the thyroid and suprarenal glands, are discussed. Part of the expense of this, as of previous investigations of this series, has been defrayed by grants from the Moray Fund of the University of Edinburgh.