Natriuretic effect of glucagon in starved and fed rats

The study was carried out on 40 male albino rats [a fed group and a starved group]. Half of the animals in each group received intravenous injection [1.5 ng/g b. wt.] for 4 consecutive days. Glucagon treatment prevented starvation induced sodium retention and was observed to enhance the glomerular filtration rate [GER] and to lack an influence on the renal Na+ - K+ ATPase enzyme. So, it can be concluded that the natriuretic action of glucagon can be considered to be performed at the glomerular level

Acetylcholinesterase activity of rat brain and heart in starvation and protein restriction.

AChE activity was determined in the brain and heart of normal, acute totally starved, chronically semi-starved and chronically protein restricted groups of adult male rats. Neither acute total starvation nor chronic semi-starvation produced significant changes in AChE activity and protein content of the brain, while AChE activity and protein content in the heart were significantly decreased (P less than 0.01) after semi-starvation. Protein restriction, however, produced a significant decrease in AChE activity and protein content of both brain (P less than 0.01) and heart (P less than 0.001).