Tissue glycogen levels in the Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddelli: a possible adaptation to asphyxial hypoxia

Abstract--1. Glycogen contents of skeletal muscle, heart and brain cortex of fetal, month-old and adult Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddelli, were deter-mined. 2. Fetal, month-old and adult male levels ranged from 4"5 to 12-7, 9"1-13 and 1"5-1"8 mg glucose/g wet weight for muscle...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: D. Kerem, D. D. Hammond, R. Elsner
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1973
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.610.5993
http://maritime2.haifa.ac.il/heb/dk/kerem_et_al_comp_bioch_physiol_1973.pdf
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Summary:Abstract--1. Glycogen contents of skeletal muscle, heart and brain cortex of fetal, month-old and adult Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddelli, were deter-mined. 2. Fetal, month-old and adult male levels ranged from 4"5 to 12-7, 9"1-13 and 1"5-1"8 mg glucose/g wet weight for muscle, heart and brain respectively. Pregnant female skeletal muscle levels were similar but heart and brain levels were 21.8 and 2"9 mg glucose/g wet weight respectively. 3. Heart and brain glycogen contents in the adult were two to three times those of other mammalian species, suggesting tissue storage for reliance on anaerobic glycolysis during episodes of diving asphyxia.