AJP - Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol 267, Issue 6 E892-E899, Copyright © 1994 by American Physiological Society
Regional variations in metabolic responses of white adipose tissue to food restriction
M. C. Sugden, R. M. Grimshaw, H. Lall and M. J. Holness
Department of Biochemistry, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, United Kingdom.
The effects of food restriction (limited access to food for 2 h/day for 10
days) on lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activities and rates of fatty acid
synthesis and glucose utilization in vivo in two superficial (interscapular
and subcutaneous) and three deep abdominal white adipose tissue depots
(parametrial, perirenal, and mesenteric) of adult female Wistar rats were
examined before and at 2 h after a standard laboratory diet meal (5 g).
Fasting LPL activities in perirenal (1.6-fold), mesenteric (5.9-fold), and
subcutaneous (2.7-fold) adipose tissue, when expressed per unit of
delipidated tissue, were increased in response to food restriction. This
effect was retained (but not enhanced) after the meal. In contrast, muscle
LPL activities were either unchanged or suppressed by food restriction.
Stimulation of adipose tissue fatty acid synthesis and glucose utilization
evoked by feeding in control rats was greatly enhanced by prior food
restriction. There was no relationship between anatomical location and
presence or absence of the response of adipose tissue LPL activity to food
restriction, but the effect of food restriction to enhance the responses of
fatty acid synthesis and glucose utilization to a meal was more marked in
perirenal and parametrial adipose tissue than in the more superficial
depots. The results thus demonstrate regional specificity in the response
of adipose tissue functions to food restriction.
