Effect of aortic arterial catheterization on tissue glycogen content

Measurements of hemodynamics and blood metabolites in rats are often made by insertion of a small polyethylene (PE-50) catheter into the aorta via the carotid artery. Although the effect of this type of procedure on animal body weight has been described, little information exists regarding the quantitative and temporal effects of this procedure on liver and skeletal muscle glycogen concentration. Relative to the control group (group C), liver glycogen concentration was reduced by 56% 24 h after catheterization (group CN). With respect to liver glycogen concentration, it was apparent that a postcatheterization recovery period of variable duration (2-8 days; group CNR) based on attainment of a normal food consumption-to-body weight ratio (FdWt/BdWt) was more effective than was a fixed 6-day recovery period (group CN6). This was probably due to the large between-animal variability in recovery times required to reach normal FdWt/BdWt values. After aortic catheterization, FdWt/BdWt was a reasonable predictor of postprocedural liver (y = 2,601x + 43.9; r = 0.72; P less than 0.01) and diaphragm muscle glycogen concentration (y = 146.3x + 14.0; r = 0.57; P less than 0.05). Aortic catheterization did not affect the glycogen concentration in the other skeletal muscles examined. Since the results of certain types of experiments can be significantly influenced by liver glycogen concentration, the use of FdWt/BdWt on 24-h food intake as a general indicator of recovery after instrumentation via aortic catheterization is proposed.