Method for estimating rates of formation and interconversion of glucose–glycerol and glucose–lactic acid in intact animals

The kinetic relationships between pairs of simple intermediary metabolites such as glucose–glycerol and glucose – lactic acid measured with tracers in intact animals in a physiological steady state are analogous to those previously used in the study of rates of secretion and total production of pairs of metabolically related steroid hormones. The treatment allows partitioning of each of the overall rates of formation of glucose, glycerol, and lactate into two components which can be attributed to major metabolic pathways, thus permitting quantitative investigation of these metabolic pathways in various physiological states.