Analysis of Liver Glycogen in Chicks

Abstract

The glycogen levels in homogenates from livers from 3- to 4-week-old broilers were measured using alkaline digestion and ethanol precipitation followed by direct hydrolysis with amyloglucosidase. Glycogen was determined with glucose oxidase. Glycogen levels were not affected by rapid freezing in liquid nitrogen and storage at -10 C. Glycogen was stabile at 4 C for at least 1 hr; however, at room temperature, over 50% of the glycogen was lost within 1 hr. Homogenization with .05 M ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) prevented this loss. Liver glycogen decreased rapidly (within 1 hr) after feed withdrawal and was sometimes undetectable within 2 hr. There was considerable variation in glycogen levels among individual birds. Liver glycogen levels were up to 50% higher at 1100 than at 0800 hr.

Influence of a direct‐fed microbial and xylanase enzyme on the dietary energy uptake efficiency and performance of broiler chickens

“…The protein concentration of homogenates was determined using a Pierce ® BCA Protein assay kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and expressed in g dL −1 . The glycogen was suspended in 0.1 mol L −1 acetate buffer (pH 4.0), and reacted with 0.05 mL amyloglucosidase for 1‐h for glucose liberation . The liberated glucose was assayed (Autokit ® glucose enzymatic method; Wako Diagnostics) and the final concentration was expressed in µg mg −1 of protein.…”