SUMMARY The conversion of [1‐ 14 C] label from glucose to 14 CO 2 in vitro by bovine pineal bodies was 7‐24 times as great as that of [6‐ 14 C]. These values for C‐1/C‐6 oxidation ratios are similar to those found for all known endocrine tissues and in contrast to those for brain which range from 1.0 to 1.4. Total glucose oxidation, both C‐1 and C‐6, and C‐1/C‐6 ratios were lower in pineal bodies from adult (3‐8 years) than from young (5‐10 months) animals. Total glucose oxidation by the posterior pituitary was lower in the adult than in the young, generally lower in the anterior pituitary of the adult, and higher in the brain of the adult. Epinephrine, 10 −4 m , increased the oxidation by pineal tissue of [1‐ 14 C] by 170 per cent and of [6‐ 14 C] by 46 per cent. The relatively high C‐1/C‐6 ratios found for pineal tissue are indicative of an operative hexosemonophosphate pathway, which we have previously suggested to be correlated with hormone secretion and/or storage. The present findings provide biochemical support for the hypothesis that the pineal body has an endocrine function in mammals.
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Krass et al. (1966) studied this question.
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