Pyruvate dehydrogenase-complex activity in brown adipose tissue of gold thioglucose-obese mice

Tissue differences in the response of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex to a glucose load during the development of obesity in gold-thioglucose-obese mice

The activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDHC), a key enzyme complex in the oxidative disposal of glucose, was measured after an oral glucose load in the heart, liver, quadriceps muscle, white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT) of gold-thioglucose (GTG)-obese mice at different stages during the development of obesity and in age-matched controls. Significant responses to the glucose load were seen 30 min post-gavage in heart, WAT and BAT of control mice but no change was observed in quadriceps muscle. The increase in activity of the active form of PDHC (PDHCa) in response to glucose in heart was reduced 2 weeks after the induction of GTG-obesity with no response in 5 or 10 week obese mice. A 2-3-fold increase in the PDHCa response in both WAT and BAT of 2 week obese mice was absent in 5 and 10 week obese animals. Basal PDHCa activity in quadriceps muscle was increased in 2 week obese mice but subsequently returned to control levels as obesity progressed. The glucose load produced no change in the activity of PDHCa in quadriceps muscle of obese mice. These results demonstrate that changes in the capacity for oxidative glucose disposal in different tissues, as indicated by changes in PDHCa activity, may contribute to glucose-intolerance and insulin-resistance in GTG-obese mice and that the response of the PDHC to insulin during the development of obesity varies in different tissues.

Diurnal patterns of cardiac and hepatic pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activity in gold-thioglucose-obese mice

The diurnal pattern of the activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) was studied in the heart and liver of gold-thioglucose (GTG)-obese mice and age-matched controls. The diurnal pattern of lipogenesis was also measured in the liver. Both lean and obese mice had one main eating period, from 20:00 to 24:00 h. Eating produced no change in serum glucose of control mice but there was a significant rise in serum insulin and triacylglycerols. There was also a 3-fold increase in cardiac PDHC activity and a 3-fold increase in hepatic lipogenesis in the control mice, but little change in hepatic PDHC activity. GTG-obese mice were hyperglycaemic, hyperinsulinaemic and hypertriglyceridaemic at all times studied, with significant increases in these parameters being seen in response to eating. Eating produced little change in cardiac PDHC activity, but there was a 5-fold increase in hepatic PDHC activity, paralleled by a 10-fold increase in hepatic lipogenesis. Hepatic PDHC activity was significantly higher in GTG-obese mice at all times except 16:00 h. The simultaneous rise of hepatic PDHC activity, lipogenesis and serum triacylglycerols in GTG-obese mice suggests an increased utilization of glucose for lipogenesis. The lack of change in heart PDHC activity in GTG-obese mice over 24 h suggests that a general decrease in PDHC activity may contribute to the development of the glucose intolerance and insulin resistance of obesity and non-insulin-dependent diabetes. However, it appears that a different level of metabolic control allows hepatic PDHC activity of the same obese animals to increase in response to hyperinsulinaemia and contribute to the higher rates of lipogenesis seen in obese mice.

Differences in lipogenesis in tissues of control and gold-thioglucose obese mice after an isocaloric meal

Lipogenesis was measured in 2 and 5 week gold-thioglucose (GTG) obese mice after a single meal of 0.5 g of standard chow. Compared to control mice the rate of lipogenesis in GTG obese mice, was 4-fold higher in liver and 10-fold higher in white adipose tissue (WAT). In brown adipose tissue (BAT) of GTG-injected mice the lipogenic rate was only 50% of that of controls. These results indicate that the increased lipid synthesis observed in GTG-injected mice is not due solely to hyperphagia and that some other stimuli, such as increased basal insulin levels and/or decreased thermogenesis and insulin resistance in BAT, contribute to the high rates of fat synthesis in this animal model of obesity.