Glycogen storage disease type I similar, but Ib incurs a few additional problems (described below). Glycogen in liver and (to a lesser degree) kidneys serves as a form of stored, rapidly accessible glucose, so that the blood glucose level can be maintained between meals. For about 3 hours after a carbohydrate-containing meal, high insulin levels direct liver cells to take glucose from the blood, to convert it to glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) with the enzyme glucokinase, and to add the G6P molecules to the ends of chains of glycogen (glycogen synthesis). Excess G6P is also shunted into production of triglycerides and exported for storage in adipose tissue
Equine exertional rhabdomyolysis cell membranes may then be damaged if the horse is forced to continue work, which allows muscle enzymes and myoglobin to leak into the bloodstream. The body builds up a store of glycogen from converted carbohydrates in muscle cells. Glycogen, a fuel used by muscles for energy, is depleted during work and restocked when a horse rests. Oxygen-carrying blood metabolizes glycogen, but the blood can not flow fast enough to metabolise the excess stored glycogen. The glycogen that is not metabolized aerobically (by the oxygenated blood) must then be metabolized anaerobically, which then creates the cell waste products and heat,