Changes of activity of liver glycogen synthase in experimental diabetes mellitus rats

Objective To study the activity of liver glycogen synthase in analogous model of NIDDM rats. Methods Male Wistar rats were injected with low dose of streptozotocin (STZ) (30 mg/kg body weight) via tail vena and those animals with glucose tolerance impaired and level of insulin equal to or higher than that of the controls at 18th week were taken as the analogous rat model of NIDDM. The activity of liver glycogen synthase (GS) was assayed at the end of experiment. Results Type I-enzyme: 0.18 +/- 0.06 mu mol/ min. g versus 0.24 +/- 0.09 mu mol/min. g, P < 0.05, and total-enzyme: 1.52 +/- 0.43 mu mol/;min. g versus 1.84 +/- 0.42 mu mol/min. g, P < 0.05. Conclusion The GS activity of diabetic rats was significantly lower than that of control.