Effect of Environmental Co2 and Ph on Glycerol Metabolism by Rat Liver in Vitro.

The metabolism of Y-labeled glycerol by rat liver slices incubated in a high potassium medium has been previously studied by Teng et al. (1) and by Ashmore et al. (2). In view of the observation made in our laboratory that modifications of the incubating medium with respect to pH (HC03 being constant), or with respect to total COa concentration (pH being constant), modify materially the conversion of glucose to glycogen (3-5), a study of the effect of changing these important environmental factors on the metabolism of glycerol by rat liver has been undertaken. Specifically, we have studied the effect of pH and of CO2 concentration on the uptake of glycerol, and on the fractions of glycerol taken up which were converted to glucose, to glycogen, and to carbon dioxide. We have also studied the incorporation of glycerol into the liver phospholipids in vitro, and whether variations in pH and COs concentration exerted a significant effect on this incorporation. Modifications in pH and in environmental COz concentration have been kept within reasonable physiological extremes.