Alterations in key carbohydrate-metabolizing enzyme activities in rat livers following bile duct ligation and its release.

Activities of key carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes in the livers of rats after bile duct ligation were studied during the recovery phase, after releasing the bile duct from ligation as an external biliary drainage. Enzyme activities were analyzed on the 3rd and 7th days after ligation and on the 3rd and 7th days after releasing the ligation. The altered enzyme activities, which resulted from the ligation of the bile duct, recovered after its release, although the recovery was delayed as when compared with those in the serum liver function tests. Glucokinase was the enzyme which was most delayed in recovery. The decreased activity of glucokinase had not returned to normal, even on the 7th day after release of the bile duct from its 7 day-ligation, whereas all the other enzyme activities had returned to normal by this time. It was also suggested that the decreased activity of glucokinase, which regulates the glucose uptake by the liver, was related to the glucose intolerance in obstructive jaundice. Accordingly, glucokinase can be used as a marker for determining the time of operation after biliary drainage.