[Cytofluorometric study of the content of glycogen and its fractions in rat liver cells during synthesis and breakdown].

A cytofluorometric study was made of the total glycogen and its fractions in isolated rat liver cells of starved rats, and of rats refed at various intervals after starving and at different times of the day. It was established that the population of liver cells of both starving and eating animals was not uniform as concerns its glycogen content. In spite of the absence of glycogen in the majority of liver cells of starved animals, some single cells revealed considerable amounts of glycogen. The liver cells of rats that started to refeed are able to start glycogen synthesis without delay. The synthesis of glycogen is proceeding mainly at the expense of a labile fraction; the content of glycogen in the stable fraction changes only during the first two hours after refeeding to remain unchanged afterwards.