Megumu Hatsumura

Modification of the gluconeogenesis is not involved in the co-planar PCB toxicity in highly sensitive guinea pigs

Abstract Effect of a co-planar PCB, 3,4,5,3′,4′-pentachlorobiphenyl (PenCB) on gluconeogenesis in guinea pigs was compared with that in rats. The key enzyme of gluconeogenesis, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), in liver cytosol of rats was reduced by PenCB treatment to about 50% of control level. Hypoglycemia was also seen in the rat. On the contrary, the liver cytosol PEPCK activity in guinea pigs was slightly increased by PenCB treatment. Plasma levels of alanine and tryptophan were increased in the rat treated with PenCB, but the level of glycogenic amino acid, alanine, was not raised significantly in the guinea pig. Thus the modification of the gluconeogenesis was not involved in the PenCB toxicity in highly sensitive guinea pigs.