Sand rats (Psammomys obesus) maintained on a diet providing a free choice between laboratory chow and salt bush (Atriplex halimus) were classified into four groups differing in extent of the diabetic syndrome: A, normoglycemic-normoinsulinemic; B, normoglycemic-hyperinsulinemic; C, hyperglycemic-hyperinsulinemic; or D, hyperglycemic with reduced insulin levels. The metabolic pattern of these groups was characterized by measuring the uptake of fatty acid-labeled, very-low-density lipoprotein-borne triglycerides (VLDL-TG) and [3H]-2-deoxyglucose (2-DOG) into muscle and adipose tissues; incorporation of [14C]alanine into glycogen in vivo; gluconeogenesis from lactate, pyruvate, and alanine in hepatocytes; the effect of insulin on glycogen synthesis from glucose; the oxidation of albumin-bound [1-14C]palmitate and [14C]glucose in strips of soleus muscle; activities of muscle and adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase; and activities of rate-limiting enzymes of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and fatty acid synthesis in liver. In group A, uptake of VLDL-TG and activity of lipoprotein lipase were higher in adipose tissue and lower in muscle than in albino rats. In the liver, gluconeogenesis and the activity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, as well as lipid synthesis and the activity of NADP-malate dehydrogenase, were higher than in albino rats, whereas activity of pyruvate kinase was lower. In group B, uptake of VLDL-TG by adipose tissue and muscle and lipoprotein lipase activity were similar or higher than in group A. Uptake of 2-DOG by muscle and adipose tissue and activity of liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase were lower than in group A. In groups C and D, uptake of VLDL-TG and lipoprotein lipase activity in muscle were further increased.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Adipose tissue lipolysis and fatty acid reesterification by liver and adipose tissue were investigated in rats fasted for 15 h under basal and calorigenic conditions. The fatty acid flux initiated by adipose fat lipolysis in the fasted rat is mostly futile and is characterized by reesterification of 57% of lipolyzed free fatty acid (FFA) back into adipose triglycerides (TG). About two-thirds of FFA reesterification are carried out before FFA release into plasma, whereas the rest consists of plasma FFA extracted by adipose tissue. Thirty-six percent of the fasting lipolytic flux is accounted for by oxidation of plasma FFA, whereas only a minor fraction is channeled into hepatic very low density lipoprotein-triglycerides (VLDL-TG). Total body calorigenesis induced by thyroid hormone treatment and liver-specific calorigenesis induced by treatment with beta, beta'-tetramethylhexadecanedioic acid (Medica 16) are characterized by a 1.7- and 1.3-fold increase in FFA oxidation, respectively, maintained by a 1.5-fold increase in adipose fat lipolysis. Hepatic reesterification of plasma FFA into VLDL-TG is negligible under both calorigenic conditions. Hence, total body fatty acid metabolism is regulated by adipose tissue as both source and sink. The futile nature of fatty acid cycling allows for its fine tuning in response to metabolic demands.
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