Diurnal variations in food intake and in lipogenesis in mammary gland and liver of lactating rats.

Despite the hyperphagia, the food intake of the lactating rat showed marked diurnal changes which paralleled those of virgin rats. The major difference was that lactating rats consumed a higher proportion (35%) of their diet during the light period than did virgin rats (14%). The peak rate of lipogenesis in the lactating mammary gland occurred around midnight, and this decreased by 67% to reach a nadir around mid-afternoon; this corresponded with the period of lowest food intake. The diurnal variations in hepatic lipogenesis in lactating rats were much less marked. The changes in hepatic glycogen over 24 h suggest that it acts to supply carbon for lipogenesis during the period of decreased food intake. The activation state of acetyl-CoA carboxylase in mammary gland altered during 24 h, but the changes did not always correlate with alterations in the rate of lipogenesis. The changes in plasma insulin concentration tended to parallel the food intake in the lactating rats, but they did not appear to be sufficient to explain the large alterations in lipogenic rate in the mammary gland.     

Mechanism for the ''anti-lipolytic'' action of vasopressin in the starved rat.

The marked decrease in blood non-esterified fatty acids and ketone bodies after vasopressin infusion into starved rats [Rofe & Williamson (1983) Biochem. J. 212, 231-239] was investigated. Vasopressin did not inhibit lipolysis in isolated rat adipocytes. The metabolic effects in vivo were still present after pretreatment of rats with indomethacin, indicating that the effect is not secondary to the release of prostaglandins. Vasopressin significantly decreased blood flow through the retroperitoneal, epididymal and mesenteric fat depots, by 80%, 76% and 46% respectively. The specific haemodynamic effect of vasopressin on adipose tissue is considered to be the primary cause of the major metabolic changes seen in the starved rat.     

Localization of Parental Deoxyribonucleic Acid from Superinfecting T4 Bacteriophage in Escherichia coli

High-resolution autoradiography has been employed to localize the nonsolubilized but genetically excluded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of T4 bacteriophage superinfecting endonuclease I-deficient Escherichia coli. This DNA was found to be associated with the cell envelope (this term is used here to include all cellular components peripheral to and including the cytoplasmic membrane); in contrast, T4 DNA in primary infected cells, like host DNA in uninfected E. coli, was found to be near the cell center. The envelope-associated DNA from super-infecting phage was not located on the outermost surface of the cell since it was insensitive to deoxyribonuclease added to the medium. These results suggest that DNA from superinfecting T-even phage is trapped within the cell envelope.     

Changes in the concentrations of hepatic metabolites on administration of dihydroxyacetone or glycerol to starved rats and their relationship to the control of ketogenesis

1. Glycerol and dihydroxyacetone, both antiketogenic and readily metabolized, but differing in their effects on the redox state of the hepatic NAD couples, were given to starved rats and the contents of metabolites were measured in freezeclamped liver and in the blood. The object was to study the effects of changes in the redox state and of the availability of oxidizable substrates on the rate of ketone-body formation. 2. Intramuscular administration of dihydroxyacetone, glycerol or glucose to starved rats decreased the concentrations of acetoacetate and 3-hydroxybutyrate in the blood by 70-80% within 60min., whereas there was no major change in the free fatty acid concentration. 3. Dihydroxyacetone, but not glucose or glycerol, caused an immediate and sustained twofold increase in the blood lactate concentration. 4. Dihydroxyacetone and glycerol caused a rapid fall in the hepatic concentrations of ketone bodies, dihydroxyacetone being more effective. 5. This decrease was not accompanied by significant changes in the concentrations of acetyl-CoA, long-chain acyl-CoA or free CoA. 6. The hepatic glycerophosphate concentration rose about 40-fold on administration of glycerol, whereas with dihydroxyacetone the increase was only about 50%. The large increase in glycerophosphate concentration after administration of glycerol was completely prevented by pretreatment of the rats with tri-iodothyronine. Triiodothyronine-treated rats showed the same decrease in ketone-body concentrations after administration of glycerol as the untreated rats. 7. Glycerol and dihydroxyacetone caused an increase in the hepatic lactate concentration; the pyruvate concentration rose only after injection of dihydroxyacetone. 8. Both compounds increased liver glycogen. 9. Calculation of the [free NAD(+)]/[free NADH] ratios indicated that dihydroxyacetone increased the ratio in cytoplasm and mitochondria, whereas glycerol caused a prompt fall in both compartments, followed at 10min. by a slight rise in the mitochondrial compartment. 10. Dihydroxyacetone did not alter the hepatic content of ATP. 11. The findings suggest that the main reason for the antiketogenic effect of glycerol and dihydroxyacetone was a consequence of their ready metabolism and the provision of an increased supply of C(3) intermediates for conversion into oxaloacetate. Under the test conditions, neither the hepatic content of alpha-glycerophosphate nor the redox state of the NAD couples appeared to play a major role in the regulation of ketogenesis.     

Activity and intracellular distribution of enzymes of ketone-body metabolism in rat liver

1. The activities of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase and lyase in rat liver were found to be two- to 15-fold greater than those reported by other authors under similar conditions. 2. When expressed on the basis of body weight, no appreciable differences were found between the activities of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase in whole homogenates of livers from normal and starved rats. The synthase activity increased by 70% and 140% in livers of alloxan-diabetic rats and rats fed on a high-fat diet respectively. 3. Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA lyase activity showed no significant increases in starvation or alloxan-diabetes, but a 40% increase was found in fat-fed rats. 4. Less than 12% of the activities of both enzymes were found in the cytoplasmic fraction of normal liver. The cytoplasmic activity doubled in alloxan-diabetes and starvation; on feeding with a high-fat diet the increase, though significant, was less marked. 6. The intracellular distribution of glutamate dehydrogenase indicated that the changes in the cytoplasmic activities observed were not due to leakage from the mitochondria. 7. Feeding with a normal or high-fat diet after 48hr. starvation caused within 24hr. a decrease in the cytoplasmic activity of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase to values lower than those found in rats fed on a corresponding diet for a longer period of time. 8. Acetoacetyl-CoA deacylase activity in liver was about 20% of that of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase and was primarily located in the cytoplasm. Starvation or alloxan-diabetes did not alter the acetoacetyl-CoA deacylase activity. 9. It is concluded that variations in the concentrations of enzymes involved in acetoacetate synthesis play no major role in the regulation of ketone-body formation in starvation and alloxan-diabetes. The changes in the cytoplasmic activities of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase and lyase suggest that acetoacetate synthesis can occur in the cytoplasm. This may play a role in the disposal of surplus acetyl-CoA arising in the cytoplasm when lipogenesis is inhibited.