The effects on glycerolipid synthesis of a series of compounds including many drugs were investigated in cell-free preparations and slices of rat liver. p-Chlorobenzoate, p-chlorophenoxyisobutyrate, halofenate, D-amphetamine, adrenaline, procaine and N-[2-(4-chloro-3-sulphamoylbenzoyloxy)ethyl]norfenfluramine had little inhibitory effect on any of the systems investigated. Two amphiphilic anions, clofenapate and 2-(p-chlorophenyl)-2-(m-trifluoromethylphenoxy)acetate, both inhibited glycerol phosphate acyltransferase and diacylglycerol acyltransferase at approx. 1.6 and 0.7 mm respectively. Clofenapate (1 mm) also inhibited the incorporation of glycerol into lipids by rat liver slices without altering the relative proportions of the different lipids synthesized. The amphilic amines, mepyramine, fenfluramine, norfenfluramine, hydroxyethylnorfenfluramine, N-(2-benzoyloxyethyl)norfenfluramine, cinchocaine, chlorpromazine and demethylimipramine inhibited phosphatidate phosphohydrolase by 50% at concentrations between 0.2 and 0.9 mm. The last four compounds inhibited glycerol phosphate acyltransferase by 50% at concentrations between 1 and 2.6 mm. None of the amines examined appeared to be an effective inhibitor of diacylglycerol acyltransferase. Norfenfluramine, hydroxyethylnorfenfluramine and N-(2-benzoyloxyethyl)norfenfluramine produced less inhibition of glycerol incorporation into total lipids than was observed with equimolar clofenapate. The major effect of these amines in liver slices was to inhibit triacylglycerol and phosphatidylcholine synthesis and to produce a marked accumulation of phosphatidate. The results are discussed in terms of the control of glycerolipid synthesis. They partly explain the observed effects of the various drugs on lipid metabolism. The possible use of these compounds as biochemical tools with which to investigate the reactions of glycerolipid synthesis is considered.

1. Rats were injected with a single dose of 35mg of streptozotocin/kg body wt. They exhibited a diabetes that was characterized by glycosuria, polyuria, polydipsia, hyperphagia, hyperglycaemia, increased concentrations of unesterified fatty acids, glycerol and triacylglycerols in the serum and an increased activity of glucose 6-phosphatase in the liver. 2. After 10 weeks the hepatic activities of the microsomal glycerol phosphate acyltransferase, phosphatidate phosphohydrolase, phosphatidate cytidylyltransferase, diacylglycerol acyltransferase, choline phosphotransferase, CDP-diacylglycerolx—inositol phosphatidyltransferase and the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase were measured. 3. The only significant changes were an increase in the activity of the soluble phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and a decrease in that of the CDP-diacylglycerol—inositol phosphatidyltransferase in the diabetic rats. 4. These results are discussed in relation to the control of glycerolipid synthesis.

1. Phosphatidate phosphohydrolase from the particle-free supernatant of rat liver was assayed by using emulsions of phosphatidate as substrate. 2. The inhibition of the phosphohydrolase by chlorpromazine was of a competitive type with respect to phosphatidate. The potency of various amphiphilic cationic drugs as inhibitors of this reaction was related to their partition coefficients into a phosphatidate emulsion. 3. The effect of chlorpromazine on the phosphohydrolase activity was complementary rather than antagonistic towards Mg2+. Chlorpromazine stimulated the phosphohydrolase activity in the absence of added Mg2+ and was able to replace the requirement for Mg2+. However, at optimum concentrations of Mg2+, chlorpromazine inhibited the reaction, as did Ca2+. The phosphohydrolase activity was also stimulated by Co2+ and to a lesser extent by Mn2+, Fe2+, Fe3+, Ca2+, spermine and spermidine when Mg2+ was not added to the assays. 4. It is concluded that the inhibition of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase by amphiphilic cations can largely be explained by the interaction of these compounds with phosphatidate, which changes the physical properties of the lipid, making it less available for conversion into diacylglycerol. 5. The implications of these results to the effects of amphiphilic cations in redirecting glycerolipid synthesis at the level of phosphatidate are discussed.

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N-(2-Benzoyloxyethyl) norfenfluramine (S-780) was administered to rats by stomach tube at a dose of 50 mg kg-1 of body weight. Livers of the rats which were given an acute dose of the drug synthesized more triacylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine from [1,3-3H]glycerol and [14C]palmitate than did those of control rats. The measurements were made by injecting a mixture of the radioactive precursors into the portal veins of anaesthetized rats and freeze clamping a portion of the liver 1 min later. Diffferent results were obtained after treating rats daily with S-780 for 5 days. Liver slices from these rats synthesized less triacylglycerol and relatively more phosphatidylinositol plus phosphatidylserine from [3H]glycerol than did those of control rats. S-780 treatment depressed the hepatic synthesis of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine as measured in vivo after intrapotal injection of [14C]palmitate and [3H]glycerol. Chronic treatment with S-780 also depressed food intake and lowered liver weight and body weight of rats fed the 41B diet. The results are discussed in relation to the effects of S-780 on the synthesis of glycerolipids.