Authors: Zammit, V.A.; Lankester, D.J.; Brown, A.M.; Park, B-S.

Source: FEBS Journal, Volume 263, Number 3, 1 August 1999 , pp. 859-864(6)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

We determined whether the direction of the acute effect of insulin on hepatic triacylglycerol secretion is dependent on the prior physiological state or on the in vitro experimental system used. The effect of insulin on triacylglycerol secretion was studied using perfused livers isolated from rats under three metabolic conditions: fed normo-insulinaemic, 24-h fasted and fed, streptozotocin-diabetic (insulin-deficient). Insulin acutely activated triacylglycerol secretion (by 43%) in organs from fed, normo-insulinaemic animals, whereas it inhibited triacylglycerol secretion in livers isolated from fasted or insulin-deficient rats (by 30 and 33%, respectively). By contrast, in 24-h-cultured hepatocytes insulin invariably acutely inhibited triacylglycerol secretion irrespective of the metabolic state of the donor animals. It is concluded that the use of perfused livers enables the observation of a switch in the direction of insulin action on hepatic triacylglycerol secretion from stimulatory, in the normo-insulinaemic state, to inhibitory in the fasting or insulin-deficient state. The possible implications of this switch for the relationship between hyperinsulinaemia, increased hepatic very-low-density lipoprotein-triacylglycerol secretion and hypertriglyceridaemia observed in vivo are discussed.

Keywords: coronary artery disease; diabetes; etherosclerosis; fasting; hypertiglyceridemia

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 1999-08-01

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Anatomy & Physiology ,  Biology ,  Chemistry (General) ,  Biochemistry
• By this author: Zammit, V.A. ;  Lankester, D.J. ;  Brown, A.M. ;  Park, B-S.

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers