Efict of Hypogly tin A on Liver Glycogen With a Method for the Study of Changes in Liver GZycogen

T HERE is a seasonal endemic condition in Jamaica that is called ‘vomiting sickness. ’ It has been suggested by some authorities that this condition may be due to the ingestion of certain toxic foods, and among the foods held responsible, is the ackee (Blighia sapida) (I). Hassal et al. (2) have isolated two compounds from the ackee, hypoglycin A and B which they have shown to cause hypoglycemia in animals. In order to secure a more complete picture of the changes in carbohydrate metabolism, it was felt desirable to study the changes in liver glycogen in humans with vomiting sick-ness and to correlate the changes in liver glycogen and blood glucose in rats that had received hypoglycin. The changes occurring in the liver glycogen of single animals have been previously studied (3) by a technique which necessitated the removal of large samples of liver (0.5-1.0 gm). It has been suggested that this procedure may have affected the results adversely. For this reason, a microtechnique was evolved by means of which it was possible to remove repeated samples of liver weighing only 1-5 mg for glycogen analysis, so that damage to the liver was localized to as small an area as possible. The microdetermination of glycogen was also indispensable for analysis of the human liver, samples of which were obtained by biopsy techniques