Disturbance of lysosomal glycogen metabolism by liposomal anti-alpha-glucosidase and some anti-inflammatory drugs.

The size-distribution of liver glycogen was shown to be distinctly affected by the anti-inflammatory drugs salicylate and indomethacin. By measurement of the incorporation of radioactive glucose into glycogen, salicylate was shown to have a depressing effect on overall liver glycogen metabolism. These effects appear to arise from the stabilizing of the lysosome by the drugs. The incorporation, via liposomes, of purified anti-1,4-alpha-glucosidase activity and in the content of high-molecular-weight glycogen. These changes are increased by prolonged liposomal antibody treatment and suggest that a possible feedback control mechanism operates in the incorporation of glycogen into lysosomes. These experiments may be useful as a model of glycogen turnover and its failure in glycogenosis type II (Pompe's disease).