Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Top
  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal
  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Advertisement

Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI107742

Hepatic Autophagy in Uncontrolled Experimental Diabetes and Its Relationships to Insulin and Glucagon

M. Amherdt, V. Harris, A. E. Renold, L. Orci, and R. H. Unger

University of Geneva School of Medicine, The Institute of Histologie and Embryologie, Geneva, Switzerland

Institute of Biochimie Clinique, Geneva, Switzerland

Veterans Administration Hospital, Dallas, Texas

Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75235

Find articles by Amherdt, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

University of Geneva School of Medicine, The Institute of Histologie and Embryologie, Geneva, Switzerland

Institute of Biochimie Clinique, Geneva, Switzerland

Veterans Administration Hospital, Dallas, Texas

Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75235

Find articles by Harris, V. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

University of Geneva School of Medicine, The Institute of Histologie and Embryologie, Geneva, Switzerland

Institute of Biochimie Clinique, Geneva, Switzerland

Veterans Administration Hospital, Dallas, Texas

Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75235

Find articles by Renold, A. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

University of Geneva School of Medicine, The Institute of Histologie and Embryologie, Geneva, Switzerland

Institute of Biochimie Clinique, Geneva, Switzerland

Veterans Administration Hospital, Dallas, Texas

Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75235

Find articles by Orci, L. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

University of Geneva School of Medicine, The Institute of Histologie and Embryologie, Geneva, Switzerland

Institute of Biochimie Clinique, Geneva, Switzerland

Veterans Administration Hospital, Dallas, Texas

Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75235

Find articles by Unger, R. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Published July 1, 1974 - More info

Published in Volume 54, Issue 1 on July 1, 1974
J Clin Invest. 1974;54(1):188–193. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI107742.
© 1974 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published July 1, 1974 - Version history
View PDF
Abstract

Exogenous glucagon is known to increase hepatic lysosomes, but the relationships between endogenous glucagon and insulin levels and hepatic lysosomes have not been examined. To determine if the hormones of the pancreatic islets influence the development of these organelles glycogenosomes, dense bodies, and autophagosomes were morphometrically quantitated in normal rats, in rats with mild streptozotocin diabetes with normal hormone levels, and in rats with severe streptozotocin diabetes with hyperglucagonemia, hypo-insulinemia, and clinical evidence of uncontrolled diabetes and ketoacidosis. In the latter volume density of lysosomes averaged 222.8×10-4 (SEM ±19.8×10-4), significantly above the control value of 75×10-4 (SEM ±7.0×10-4) (P<0.0005); glycogenosomes were absent in the diabetics, the increase being largely the result of increased autophagosomes. Insulin treatment corrected the hyperglucagonemia, hypoinsulinemia, and other manifestations of uncontrolled diabetes and reduced the volume density of lysosomes to 37.4×10-4 (SEM ±2.0×10-4), significantly below both the untreated diabetic rats and the nondiabetic controls (P<0.0025). In mild streptozotocin diabetes, in which hyperglucagonemia, hypoinsulinemia, and other evidence of uncontrolled diabetes were absent, lysosomes averaged 77.6×10-4 (SEM ±5.5×10-4), not different from the controls. A statistically significant correlation between all measurements of lysosomal volume density and plasma glucagon was observed (r=0.79; P<0.001). It is concluded that uncontrolled streptozotocin diabetes in rats is accompanied by hepatic autophagy which may be related to the increased plasma glucagon level and/or the decreased insulin and which is corrected by insulin therapy.

Images.

Browse pages

Click on an image below to see the page. View PDF of the complete article

icon of scanned page 188
page 188
icon of scanned page 189
page 189
icon of scanned page 190
page 190
icon of scanned page 191
page 191
icon of scanned page 192
page 192
icon of scanned page 193
page 193
Version history
  • Version 1 (July 1, 1974): No description

Article tools

  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal

Metrics

  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Go to

  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
Advertisement
Advertisement

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts