Glucagon action upon plasma post-heparin lipolytic and monoglyceride hydrolase activities. Studies involving administration of exogenous hormone during suppression of endogenous hormone secretion with somatostatin.

It has been previously demonstrated that glucagon increased plasma post-heparin lipolytic activity (PHLA) in normal rats, but this was not the case in alloxan diabetic rats. The present work was designed to determine if the administration of exogenous glucagon (0.2 mg i.v.) during suppression of endogenous hormone secretion with somatostatin modifies the plasma post-heparin lipolytic activity in normal rats and the action of such hormone upon monoglyceride hydrolase (MGH) activity. It was found that exogenous glucagon significatively increased PHLA and MGH activity in normal rats after 18-24 hours of starvation. However, both enzymatic activities were not influenced by exogenous glucagon when they were measured during somatostatin administration. Therefore it is believed that the enhancement of these activities observed when somatostatin was not simultaneously given was due to the insulin secretion that follows the glucagon injection.