The selective mobilization of fatty acids is not based on their positional distribution in white-fat-cell triacylglycerols

Higher Availability of Long-Chain Monounsaturated Fatty Acids in Preterm than in Full-Term Human Milk

While the role of n-3 and n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) in the maturation of the infantile nervous system is extensively studied and relatively well-characterized, data on the potential developmental importance of the n-9 long-chain monounsaturated fatty acid (LCMUFA), nervonic acid (NA, C24:1n-9) are scarce and ambiguous. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to reanalyze our available data on the contribution of NA and its LCMUFA precursors, gondoic acid (C20:1n-9) and erucic acid (EA, C22:1n-9) to the fatty acid composition of human milk (HM) during the first month of lactation in mothers of both preterm (PT) and full-term (FT) infants. HM samples were obtained daily during the first week of lactation, and then on the 14th, 21st, and 28th days. Values of the LCMUFAs, C20:1n-9, EA, and NA were significantly higher in colostrum than in transient and mature HM. Consequently, there were highly significant inverse associations between LCMUFA values and the duration of lactation. Moreover, C20:1n-9, EA, and NA values were monotonously, considerably, and at many timepoints significantly higher in PT than in FT HM samples. By the 28th day of lactation, summarized LCMUFA values in PT HM samples declined to the level measured in FT HM samples on the first day of lactation; however, EA and NA values were still significantly higher in PT than in FT HM on the 28th day. Significantly higher availability of LCMUFAs in PT than in FT HM underpins the potential biological role of this hitherto somewhat neglected group of fatty acids.

Selective blubber fatty acid mobilization in lactating gray seals (Halichoerus grypus)

During negative energy balance periods, fatty acids (FAs) are mobilized to cover the metabolic demands of the body. FAs from adipose tissue are selectively mobilized according to their carbon length (CL) and number of double bonds (DBs); however, studies in vivo have focused only on fasting and nonlactating animals. During lactation, UK gray seals fast for 18 d, mobilizing a large amount of lipid from blubber to sustain their own metabolic demands and the nutritional requirements of pups. We investigated FA mobilization in individual gray seal mothers from two UK colonies sampled in 2005 and 2006. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine to what extent the mobilization observed from FAs in blubber can be explained as a function of FAs' CL and number of DBs. FAs were mobilized according to their structure, such that for a given CL, mobilization increased with the number of DBs, and for a given number of DBs, mobilization decreased as CL increased. This pattern of selective mobilization was very similar between colonies, although the relative amounts of component FAs in blubber at early lactation were different between them. FAs, which are considered crucial to pup development, were mobilized more than predicted by the model. This suggests that selective mobilization of FAs is not related solely to the physicochemical characteristics of the FAs but also to the needs of a growing pup.

Regulation of lipolysis in adipocytes

Lipolysis of white adipose tissue triacylglycerol stores results in the liberation of glycerol and nonesterified fatty acids that are released into the vasculature for use by other organs as energy substrates. In response to changes in nutritional state, lipolysis rates are precisely regulated through hormonal and biochemical signals. These signals modulate the activity of lipolytic enzymes and accessory proteins, allowing for maximal responsiveness of adipose tissue to changes in energy requirements and availability. Recently, a number of novel adipocyte triacylglyceride lipases have been identified, including desnutrin/ATGL, greatly expanding our understanding of adipocyte lipolysis. We have also begun to better appreciate the role of a number of nonenzymatic proteins that are critical to triacylglyceride breakdown. This review provides an overview of key mediators of lipolysis and the regulation of this process by changes in nutritional status and nutrient intakes.

Triacylglycerol metabolism in adipose tissue

Triacylglycerol (TAG) in adipose tissue serves as the major energy storage form in higher eukaryotes. Obesity, resulting from excess white adipose tissue, has increased dramatically in recent years resulting in a serious public health problem. Understanding of adipocyte-specific TAG synthesis and hydrolysis is critical to the development of strategies to treat and prevent obesity and its closely associated diseases, for example, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis. In this review, we present an overview of the major enzymes in TAG synthesis and lipolysis, including the recent discovery of a novel adipocyte TAG hydrolase.

Influence of different dietary fats on triacylglycerol deposition in rat adipose tissue

It has been demonstrated that triacylglycerol (TAG) mobilization from adipose tissue is selective and depends on fatty acid (FA) chain length, unsaturation and positional isomerism. The present study was performed to determine the influence of dietary fat on the composition of TAG stored in rat perirenal and subcutaneous adipose tissues. These results may provide information on the susceptibility of stored TAG to hydrolysis and further mobilization, and may help to establish an interrelationship between dietary composition and the FA efflux from adipose tissue. TAG molecular species and FA composition were determined by HPLC and GLC respectively. No significant differences were found in either FA or TAG composition between perirenal and subcutaneous adipose depots. The major FA in the dietary fats were present in the adipose tissues of the animals; in most cases, in similar proportions. However, differences were found between dietary and adipose tissue content of minor FA, which suggests that dietary FA composition is altered between ingestion and deposition in adipose tissue. The TAG molecular species of rat adipose tissue were enriched with the FA characteristic of each dietary fat. Dietary sunflower oil was responsible for enrichment with the most polar TAG. This finding may suggest easier mobilization of stored TAG. In conclusion, the process of fatty acid and TAG deposition in rat adipose tissue is selective, and depends on the composition of the diet.

Dietary fatty acids influence the appearance of tumour necrosis factor-α receptors on adipocytes following an immune challenge

Rats were fed from weaning on chow supplemented with suet or sunflower oil (10 % (w/w) each). The appearance of receptors for tumour necrosis factor-α on perinodal adipocytes from the popliteal depot following a subcutaneous injection of bacterial lipopolysaccharide was examined. In rats fed on sunflower oil-supplemented chow receptors appeared at a time similar to that described in rats fed unsupplemented chow, but in rats fed on chow supplemented with suet receptor appearance was significantly delayed. The popliteal adipocytes were found to contain different proportions of fatty acids as assessed by GLC. These preliminary results suggest that the fatty acid component of the diet can, by influencing the triacylglycerol-fatty acids within adipocytes, directly alter the time course of an early inflammatory immune response.

What does the measurement of whole-body fatty acid rate of appearance in plasma by using a fatty acid tracer really mean?

We evaluated the validity of using a single fatty acid tracer to assess total plasma long-chain free fatty acid (FFA) kinetics and the relationship between the rate of appearance (R(a)) of fatty acids in plasma and the fatty acid composition of adipose tissue triglyceride (TG). A mixture of [(13)C]-labeled myristate, palmitate, stearate, oleate, and linoleate was infused in healthy men during basal conditions and during conditions that stimulate (epinephrine infusion) and inhibit (insulin infusion) lipolysis of adipose tissue TGs. Calculated total FFA, R(a) based on palmitate, oleate, or linoleate tracers, was within 15% of the measured sum of the individual fatty acid R(a) under all conditions, whereas stearate and myristate tracers consistently underestimated and overestimated total FFA R(a), respectively. The fatty acid R(a) profile closely matched the fatty acid profile of subcutaneous adipose tissue TGs during epinephrine infusion, but not during basal conditions and insulin infusion. Our data support the common practice of using labeled palmitate or oleate as fatty acid tracers for assessing total plasma FFA kinetics and suggest that a source of lipids other than adipose tissue TG release fatty acids into the systemic circulation.

Selective mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue triacylglycerols

Adipose tissue triacylglycerols represent the main storage of a wide spectrum of fatty acids differing by molecular structure. The release of individual fatty acids from adipose tissue is selective according to carbon chain length and unsaturation degree in vitro and in vivo in animal studies and also in humans. The mechanism of selective fatty acid mobilization from white fat cells is not known. Lipolysis is widely reported to work at a lipid-water interface where only small amounts of substrate are available. A preferential hydrolysis of a small triacylglycerol fraction enriched in certain triacylglycerol molecular species at the lipid-water interface and enzymological properties of hormone-sensitive lipase could explain the selective mobilization of fatty acids from fat cells. This selectivity could affect the individual fatty acid supply to tissues.

Selective mobilisation of fatty acids from human adipose tissue

Background: Adipose tissue is a storage organ for dietary fat. During fasting, fatty acids are released into serum as free fatty acids (FFA). Experimental studies indicate that fatty acids are selectively mobilised from adipose tissue into serum. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the composition of the serum FFA fraction reflects selective mobilisation in the fasting state in humans. Methods: The fatty acid composition of fasting serum FFA and adipose tissue were analysed from 112 patients with myocardial infarction and 107 healthy control subjects using gas-liquid chromatography. The subjects' habitual diet was analysed using a food-frequency questionnaire. Results: Significant correlations were found between serum FFA and adipose tissue, particularly for the percentage content of linoleic acid (r=0.73), eicosapentaenoic acid (r=0.68), alpha-linolenic acid (r=0.67) and palmitoleic acid (r=0.60). Percentage contents of palmitic, stearic, linoleic, alpha-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid were higher in serum FFA than in adipose tissue, whereas oleic and palmitoleic acid were relatively more abundant in adipose tissue. This may indicate that the former group of fatty acids is preferentially mobilised from adipose tissue into serum. High correlations for polyunsaturated fatty acids were observed between percentage contents of dietary and adipose tissue fatty acids. The correlation of fatty acids between diet and serum FFA was weak, but a tendency towards higher correlations for polyunsaturated fatty acids was observed. Conclusions: Our findings are compatible with the hypothesis that, in the fasting state, fatty acids are selectively mobilised from adipose tissue into serum FFA.

Uptake of individual fatty acids into adipose tissue in relation to their presence in the diet

BACKGROUND

The fatty acid composition of adipose tissue triacylglycerol reflects, but is not identical to, the fatty acid composition of the habitual diet.

OBJECTIVE

We investigated whether the fatty acid composition of adipose tissue is explained by differences between fatty acids in early storage in adipose tissue after a meal.

DESIGN

Nine healthy men ate a meal containing several fatty acids. Blood samples were taken for 6 h after the meal from an arterialized hand vein and a vein draining the anterior abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue.

RESULTS

Net storage of fatty acids in adipose tissue occurred between 1 and 4 h after the meal. In relation to the amount fed, storage of fatty acids differed (P < 0. 01) between classes (n-3 polyunsaturated < saturated < n-6 polyunsaturated < monounsaturated); oleic acid was stored in the greatest amounts. These differences agreed closely with published data, except for n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The only individual metabolic step at which significant differences between fatty acids was shown was incorporation of fatty acids into chylomicron triacylglycerol. Differences between fatty acids in rate of extraction from chylomicron triacylglycerol and net uptake into adipose tissue in the postprandial period were significant (P < 0. 01), but not when expressed in relation to proportions in chylomicron triacylglycerol.

CONCLUSIONS

The characteristic fatty acid pattern of adipose tissue may predominantly reflect the early metabolic handling of different fatty acids. Adipose tissue uptake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is slow in relation to that of other fatty acids.

Net release of individual fatty acids from white adipose tissue during lipolysis in vitro: evidence for selective fatty acid re-uptake

During lipolysis, adipose tissue triacylglycerols (TAG) undergo concurrent breakdown and synthesis because some of the newly hydrolysed and released non-esterified ('free') fatty acids (NEFA) can subsequently be taken up and re-esterified. The present study examines whether and how the release of individual fatty acids is affected by the re-uptake of some of the newly hydrolysed fatty acids in vitro during lipolysis. To alter fatty acid release and re-uptake, adipose tissue fragments and isolated adipocytes from rats were incubated under various conditions, i.e. several cell concentrations or adipose fragment quantities, with or without glucose. In the various conditions tested, the NEFA/glycerol molar ratio ranged from 1.5 to 2.9. Whatever the incubation conditions, including those resulting in very low, medium or high fatty acid re-uptake (as assessed by the NEFA/glycerol ratio), the percentage weight of fatty acids in NEFA was significantly different from that in TAG for 20-24 of the 35 fatty acids that were considered. Thus the greater the fatty acid re-uptake, the higher the proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids and the lower the proportion of long-chain saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in NEFA. Moreover, the relative mobilization (%NEFA/%TAG) of the least readily mobilized fatty acid (C(22:1,n-11)) was 6.2-fold lower than that of the most readily mobilized fatty acid (C(20:5,n-3)) under conditions of very low fatty acid re-uptake, and 14.8-fold lower under conditions of high fatty acid re-uptake, indicating a widening of the range of relative mobilizations. We conclude that the composition of the NEFA pool is affected by the rate of fatty acid re-uptake. This provides strong evidence for the selective re-uptake of adipose tissue fatty acids during lipolysis.

Selectivity of fatty acids on lipid metabolism and gene expression

Triacylglycerols represent the main form of storage for a wide spectrum of fatty acids. Their utilization first involves mobilization from adipose tissue through lipolysis. The release of individual fatty acids from adipose tissue is selective in vitro and in vivo in animal studies and also in human subjects. Generally, fatty acids are more readily mobilized from fat cells when they are short-chain and unsaturated. This selectivity could affect the storage of individual fatty acids in adipose tissue, and their subsequent supply to tissues. The nature of the dietary fats could affect lipid homeostasis and body fat deposition. Dietary fish oil influences adipose tissue development in a site-specific manner as a function of diet and feeding period. A diet high in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) results in a preferential partitioning of ingested energy towards oxidation at the expense of storage. Fatty acids are important mediators of gene expression in the liver. Indeed, genes encoding both glycolytic and lipogenic enzymes and key metabolic enzymes involved in fatty acid oxidation are regulated by dietary PUFA. White adipose tissue could also be a target for PUFA control of gene expression. The treatment of pre-adipose cells by fatty acids induces the expression of numerous genes that encode proteins involved in fatty acid metabolism. The mechanisms of PUFA-mediated repression of gene expression in adipocytes seem to be different, at least partly, from those described in liver. Tissue-specific and site-specific factors are possibly involved in the specific effect of PUFA on gene expression, although other mechanisms cannot be excluded.

Fatty acid composition of the adipose tissue and yolk lipids of a bird with a marine-based diet, the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)

The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is an Antarctic seabird feeding mainly on fish and therefore has a high dietary intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The yolk is accumulated in the developing oocyte while the females are fasting, and a large proportion of the fatty acid components of the yolk lipids are derived by mobilization from the female's adipose tissue. The fatty acid composition of the total lipid of the yolk was characterized by high levels of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, it differed in several respects from that of the maternal adipose tissue. For example, the proportions of 14:0, 16:1n-7, 20:1n-9, 22:1n-9, 20:5n-3, and 22:6n-3 were significantly greater in adipose tissue than in yolk. Thus adipose tissue lipids contained 7.6+/-0.3% and 8.0+/-0.3% (wt% of total fatty acids; mean +/- SE; n = 5) of 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3, respectively, whereas the yolk total lipid contained 1.6+/-0.1 and 5.5+/-0.3% of these respective fatty acids. The proportions of 16:0, 18:0, 18:1n-9, 18:2n-6, and 20:4n-6 were significantly lower in the adipose tissue than in the yolk lipids. The proportions of triacylglycerol, phospholipid, free cholesterol, and cholesteryl ester in the yolk lipid were, respectively, 67.0+/-0.2, 25.4+/-0.3, 5.3+/-0.2, and 1.8+/-0.2% (wt% of total yolk lipid). The proportions of 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3, 22:5n-3, and 22:6n-3 were, respectively, 5.7+/-0.3, 2.8+/-0.2, 1.4+/-0.1, and 11.7+/-0.5% in phospholipid and 0.4+/-0.0, 1.2+/-0.1, 0.8+/-0.1 and 3.6+/-0.3% in triacylglycerol. About 95% of the total vitamin E in the yolks was in the form of alpha-tocopherol with gamma-tocopherol forming the remainder. Two species of carotenoids, one identified as lutein, were present.

Determination of the molecular species composition of diacylglycerols in human adipose tissue by solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography on a polar phase

The free diacylglycerols (DAGs) in adipose tissue are involved in the metabolism of stored lipids and hence are related to the supply of fatty acids for other tissues. This paper describes a simple, fast, and reproducible method for the identification and quantification of different molecular species of DAGs in human adipose tissue. The method comprised solid-phase extraction on a diol-bonded phase column combined with capillary GC analysis of silylated DAG derivatives on a polar phase (65% phenylmethylsilicone). Separation of the DAGs was achieved based on chain length, isomeric structure (1,2- and 1,3-DAGs), and degree of unsaturation. The main DAGs were 1,2-OO, 1,2-OP, 1,2-LO and 1,2-LP. The composition was corroborated by analysis of the component fatty acids of the DAGs, 18:1(n-9), 16:0, and 18:2(n-6) being the three major fatty acids obtained.

Selective mobilization of fatty acids from white fat cells: evidence for a relationship to the polarity of triacylglycerols

Fatty acids are selectively released from white fat cells in accordance with well-defined rules relating their molecular structure and their mobilization rate, emphasizing the possible role of their physicochemical properties. Lipolysis is widely reported to work for conditions where only small amounts of substrate are available. We hypothesize that the preferential hydrolysis of a substrate fraction enriched in the most polar triacylglycerols (TAGs) reflects the pattern of selective fatty acid mobilization. Rat adipose tissue was first manipulated by dietary means to obtain a wide spectrum of fatty acids. Fat cell TAGs were separated into eight fractions according to polarity by liquid-liquid partition chromatography and their fatty acid proportions and compositions were determined by GLC. In the most polar TAG fractions, the relative enrichment of fatty acids (percentage in a TAG fraction divided by percentage in total TAGs) increased with the number of double bonds for a given chain length, whereas it decreased with increasing chain length for a given degree of unsaturation. The relative enrichment of highly mobilized fatty acids (16-20 carbon atoms and four or five double bonds) was very high (more than 2.5) in the most polar TAG fractions, whereas that of weakly mobilized fatty acids (20-24 carbon atoms and no or one double bond) was very low (less than 0.5). The relative enrichment of moderately mobilized fatty acids (comprising all the others) was close to unity. Our study shows that the relative enrichment of fatty acids in the most polar adipose tissue TAGs is consistent with their relative mobilization rates. This supports our hypothesis and raises the possibility that the molecular species of TAGs might be one of the regulating factors.