Regulation of lipid metabolism in adipose tissue during early starvation

Jaswinder S. Samra, Mo L. Clark, Sandy M. Humphreys, Ian A. Macdonald, Keith N. Frayn*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

65 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We studied changes in lipid metabolism in adipose tissue in 24 healthy adults during early starvation (14-20 h) by cannulating the venous drainage of the subcutaneous adipose tissue of the anterior abdominal wall. Net nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) efflux from adipose tissue increased steadily from 1,790 ± 300 to 2,360 ± 290 nmol · 100 g-1 · min-1 (P = 0.03), due to increasing transcapillary efflux of NEFA (release from adipocytes; P < 0.01). The reesterification rate after an overnight fast was close to zero; thus, reduction in the rate of reesterification played no part in the increased transcapillary efflux of NEFA. One-quarter of the net efflux of NEFA after an overnight fast arose from the action of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), although this relative contribution decreased during the study (P < 0.02). The increased transcapillary efflux of NEFA reflected a significant increase in the rate of action of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL; P = 0.03). There was a strong relationship between mean arterial NEFA concentration and net NEFA release from adipose tissue (P < 0.001), implying that the particular depot studied reflects the behavior of adipose tissue as a whole. Thus the increasing efflux of NEFA from adipose tissue observed during early starvation is due to an increased rate of action of HSL, which may in turn be regulated by a fall in the plasma insulin concentration.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)E541-E546
Number of pages6
JournalAmerican Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism
Volume271
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - Sept 1996

Keywords

  • hormone-sensitive lipase
  • insulin
  • lipoprotein lipase
  • nonesterified fatty acids
  • triacylglycerol

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