Conclusions concerning the physiologic role of pancreatic glucagon in health and its contribution to disorders of carbohydrate metabolism, such as diabetes mellitus, are based entirely on measurements of plasma glucagon by radioimmunoassay. The changes in plasma immunoreactive glucagon can have the metabolic and clinical significance which has been implied, only if the glucagon detected by immunoassay has biological activity. The present study was designed to determine if a relationship between the immunoassayable glucagon and glycogenolytic activity of plasma could be demonstrated.
