Gluconeogenesis in the guinea pig. Effect of glucagon on gluconeogenesis from lactate by isolated perfused guinea-pig liver.

Gluconeogenesis was stimulated by glucagon in fed but not fasted isolated perfused guinea pig livers. Both the amount and the rate of incorporation of radioactivity into glucose from L-[U-14C]lactate were increased in fed livers by the addition of glucagon to the perfusate. The glucagon-stimulated increase in gluconeogenesis was accompanied by an increase in oxygen consumption, an increase in the amount of lactate carbon converted to glucose and a decrease in the amount of lactate carbon converted to CO2. The results are interpreted to indicate that glucagon affects gluconeogenesis from lactate in fed livers by redirecting the fate of substrate from other products toward glucose.