The glycogen-depleting effect of exogenous maternal epinephrine on the liver of the fetal rat during the sixteenth day of gestation.

The effect of 1-epinephrine administered I. P. to pregnant rats during sodium pentobarbital anesthesia on fetal liver glycogen levels has been investigated. Sodium pentobarbital (22 mg./kg. maternal body weight) was administered I. P. to all pregnant rats in the control group and each 1-epinephrine dosage group twenty minutes prior to the surgical removal of the fetuses. L-epinephrine (10, 20 or 30 micrograms/kg. maternal body weight) given ten minutes after the administration of the barbiturate reduced the fetal liver glycogen levels significantly. The glycogen-depleting effect of 1-epinephrine on the fetal liver in the rat was found to be dosage-dependent.