Ethanol modulation of the hormonal and nutritional regulation of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes.

The hormonal and nutritional regulation of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH; EC 1.1.1.49) was studied in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes maintained in a chemically defined medium. Inoculation of hepatocytes from starved rats into primary cultures resulted in a 4-5-fold increase in G6PDH activity in 48 h in the absence of hormones. Parallel cultures treated simultaneously with glucocorticoids and insulin exhibited a 12-15-fold increase during the same time. Glucocorticoids by themselves did not elevate G6PDH activity, whereas insulin alone significantly stimulated enzyme activity. Thus the glucocorticoids acted in a 'permissive' role to amplify the insulin stimulation of G6PDH. Elevated concentrations of glucose in the culture medium increased enzyme activity in both the control cultures and those treated with hormones. Ethanol was found to potentiate G6PDH activity in cultures treated with glucocorticoids and insulin. The effect of ethanol was time- and dose-dependent. These results establish that insulin, glucocorticoids, glucose and ethanol interact in some undefined manner to regulate hepatic G6PDH activity.