Effect of controlled feeding on the isoenzymes of pyruvate kinase, hexokinase and aldolase in liver during development

Controlled feeding schedules have been used to maintain rats during the first thirty days following birth to investigate the role of food in determining the course of liver development. Use of the ‘8 + 16’ feeding schedule and a new ‘16 + 8’ suckling schedule allowed rats to be reared through the neonatal period without access to solid food until the day they were weaned. Food-independent increases in Pyruvate kinase type I isoenzyme, glucokinase and aldolase B take place in the late suckling period. Thus it appears that the change in the nutritional status of the animal at weaning is not a major factor in liver development.