Hormonal regulation of rat uterine glycogen metabolism

Glycogen turnover in rat uterine tissue was assessed under varying hormone conditions at the level of the enzyme systems considered regulatory to glycogen metabolism. Estrogen treatment to immature (21 day old) female rats brings about a significant increase in uterine glycogen deposition within 12 hr. This change is accompanied by statistical increases in activity levels of the glucose 6 phosphate dependent form of glycogen transferase. Elevations in rat ovarian steroidogenesis brought about by gonadotropin treatment to immature female rats cause activity changes in the glycogen cycle enzymes, which are consistent with the hypothesis that estrogen promotes uterine glycogenesis in the face of increased uterine cell glycolysis by augmenting the levels of the glycogen transferase enzyme.