Effect of hormones upon the production of ketone bodies by rat liver slices.

Numerous investigators have established the important r61e played by t,he endocrine glands in the regulation of fat metabolism in the intact animal. The administration to fasting rats of anterior pituitary growth hormone and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) (1) has been shown to increase both the concentration of ket,one bodies in the blood and the rate of their excretion. Adrenalectomy, on the other hand, tends to have the opposite effect (2). Since these effects are believed to be due to alterations of the rate of ketone body production by the liver (l), it appeared desirable to investigate the effects of these endocrines upon the ketone body metabolism of surviving liver slices.