Neuroendocrine control of carbohydrate metabolism in the freshwater bivalve molluscLamellidens marginalis

Summary Blood sugars and foot muscle glycogen were measured in the mussel,L. marginalis after ablation of the cerebral ganglia, and in mussels injected with cerebral ganglionic extract 3 h after ablation. There is a rise in the blood sugar and decrease in foot muscle glycogen 3 h after operation, but no change in sham-operated controls. The effect of ablation is reversed by injecting brain extract into ablated mussels. No such effect could be seen in the controls. The results are suggestive of the presence, in the cerebral ganglia, of a hypoglycaemic factor similar to insulin.