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Biomedical subjects

D W Foster

Publications and source records attributed to D W Foster.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

In vitro reversal of the fasting state of liver metabolism in the rat. Reevaluation of the roles of insulin and glucose.

Studies were conducted to determine whether the direction of hepatic carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in the rat could be switched simultaneously from a "fasted" to a "fed" profile in vitro. When incubated for 2 h under appropriate conditions hepatocytes from fasted animals could be induced to synthesize glycogen at in vivo rates. There was concomitant marked elevation of the tissue malonyl-coenzyme A level, acceleration of fatty acid synthesis, and suppression of fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis. In agreement with reports from some laboratories, but contrary to popular belief, glucose was not taken up efficiently by the cells and was thus a poor substrate for eigher glycogen synthesis or lipogenesis. The best precursor for glycogen formation was fructose, whereas lactate (pyruvate) was most efficient in lipogenesis. In both case the addition of glucose to the gluconeogenic substrates was stimulatory, the highest rates being obtained with the further inclusion of glutamine. Insulin was neither necessary for, nor did it stimulate, glycogen deposition or fatty acid synthesis under favorable substrate conditions. Glucagon at physiological concentrations inhibited both glycogen formation and fatty acid synthesis. Insulin readily reversed the effects of glucagon in the submaximal range of its concentration curve. The following conclusions were drawn. First, the fasted-to-fed transition of hepatic carbohydrate and lipid metabolism can be accomplished in vitro over a time frame similar to that operative in vivo. Second, reversal appears to be a substrate-driven phenomenon, in that insulin is not required. Third, unless an unidentified factor (present in protal blood during feeding) facilitates the uptake of glucose by liver it seems unlikely that glucose is the immediate precursor for liver glycogen or fat synthesis in vivo. A likely candidate for the primary substrate in both processes is lactate, which is rapidly formed from glucose by the small intestine and peripheral tissues. Fructose and amino acids may also contribute. Fourth, the requirement for insulin in the reversal of the fasting state of liver metabolism in vivo can best be explained by its ability to offset the catabolic actions of glucagon.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Effects of exogenous fatty acid concentration on glucagon-induced changes in hepatic fatty acid metabolism.

Studies were conducted to clarify the relationship between the external fatty acid concentration and glucagon in the regulation of hepatic fatty acid metabolism. Hepatocytes from fed rats were incubated with increasing concentrations of oleate (up to 1 mM) in the presence and absence of glucagon and the time sequence of changes in cellular malonyl-CoA levels, fatty acid synthesis, fatty acid oxidation, and ketogenesis were measured. At low concentrations of fatty acid the effect of glucagon was to abolish malonyl-CoA synthesis and lipogenesis and to produce a marked stimulation of fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis. Similar effects were obtained with high concentrations of fatty acid in the absence of glucagon and, under these conditions, the additional presence of the hormone produced little further response. The results are consistent with the concept that the rate of fatty acid oxidation in liver is dictated largely by the relative concentrations of long-chain acyl-CoA (substrate for carnitine acyltransferase I) and malonyl-CoA (inhibitor of the transferase). They also indicate that the preemptive effect of fatty acids on glucagon-induced changes in fatty acid metabolism stems from their ability to reduce the tissue malonyl-CoA content, probably through long-chain acyl-CoA suppression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Hepatic malonyl-CoA levels of fed, fasted and diabetic rats as measured using a simple radioisotopic assay.

A simple radioisotopic assay for malonyl-CoA is described. The method is based on the malonyl-CoA-dependent incorporation of labeled acetyl-CoA into palmitic acid catalyzed by fatty acid synthetase in the presence of NADPH. Its main advantages over the more conventional spectrophotometric procedure is that it is extremely sensitive and allows the simultaneous determination of picomole quantities of malonyl-CoA in multiple tissue extracts. It should prove particularly suitable for studies on the regulation of lipid metabolism in isolated hepatocytes where the quantity of tissue available for analysis is frequently very small. Application of the method to the measurement of malonyl-CoA in livers from fed, fasted, and diabetic rats yielded values that were consistent with the recently postulated role of malonyl-CoA in the regulation of hepatic ketone body production.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1978

The role of malonyl-coa in the coordination of fatty acid synthesis and oxidation in isolated rat hepatocytes.

Fatty acid synthesis and fatty acid oxidation were examined in rat hepatocytes under a variety of experimental conditions. In cells from fed animals, glucagon acutely switched the direction of fatty acid metabolism from synthesis to oxidation. Addition of lactate plus pyruvate had the opposite effect. The inhibitory action of glucagon on fatty acid synthesis and its stimulatory effect on fatty acid oxidation were largely, but not completely, offset by the simultaneous addition of lactate plus pyruvate. Changes in cellular citrate and malonyl-CoA levels indicated that glucagon exerted its inhibitory effect on fatty acid synthesis at two levels: (i) blockade of glycolysis; and (ii) partial inhibition of a more distal step, probably acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Under all conditions, fatty acid oxidation was related in a linear and reciprocal fashion to the rate of fatty acid synthesis and the tissue malonyl-CoA content. The latter fluctuated through a range of 1 to 6 nmol per g wet weight of cells. Since malonyl-CoA inhibits carnitine acyltransferase I of liver mitochondria with a Ki in the region of 1 to 2 micron, the present studies support the concept that this compound plays a pivotal role in the coordination of hepatic fatty acid synthesis and oxidation. The ketogenic effect of glucagon on liver appears to be manifested in large part through the ability of the hormone to reduce the tissue malonyl-CoA concentration.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1978

Characteristics of fatty acid oxidation in rat liver homogenates and the inhibitory effect of malonyl-CoA.

Experiments were carried out to study the control of fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis in rat liver homogenates. In contrast to findings with the perfused liver, rates of fatty acid oxidation were high and equal in liver homogenates from fed and fasted animals. No difference in apparent Km values for oleate, ATP, coenzyme A or carnitine could be detected in the two types of homogenate. Over the concentration range 20--40 micron, malonyl-CoA inhibited oleate oxidation by 50--75%. The fact that the inhibitory effect could be removed by pre-treatment with alkali or fatty acid synthetase indicated that the inhibitory molecule was malonyl-CoA rather than a contaminant. The effect was readily reversible and appeared to be competitive with oleyl-CoA. Malonyl-CoA also inhibited oleate oxidation in homogenates of heart and kidney cortex but this is unlikely to have physiological relevance since, in contrast to liver, neither tissue contains an active cytosolic pathway for the generation of malonyl-CoA and the synthesis of fatty acids.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1978

Hepatic fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis after clofibrate treatment.

The effect of clofibrate treatment on hepatic ketogenic capacity was studied in rats. Ketogenesis from octanoate and oleate was increased 2- and 4,5-fold, respectively, in hepatocytes from fed, treated rats. In contrast to controls ketogenic rates did not increase upon starvation. While ketogenesis from oleate was higher in fed, treated animals than in fasted controls, endogenous ketogenesis was lower and increased upon starvation. Ketogenesis from octanoate and oleate was stimulated approx. 2-fold in homogenates from treated animals. Labeled pyruvate and succinate oxidation was unaltered. [1-14C]Oleate oxidation was severely inhibited by cyanide, both in homogenates from controls and treated animals. Clofibrate caused a 3-fold increase in hepatic carnitine levels. Catalase and glutamate dehydrogenase activities were also increased by the drug. Cytochrome c oxidase did not change. Despite their increased ketogenic capacity hepatocytes from treated rats esterified as much oleate as controls. The increased oxidation was matched by an increased oleate uptake. Plasma ketones were increased 2-fold in fasted, treated animals. Plasma free fatty acids were unaffected. It is concluded that the enhanced ketogenic capacity induced by clofibrate is the result of an increase in mitochondrial beta-oxidation, an increase in the activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase and possibly of the observed increases in hepatic carnitine content and fatty acid uptake.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

A possible role for malonyl-CoA in the regulation of hepatic fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis.

Studied on the oxidation of oleic and octanoic acids to ketone bodies were carried out in homogenates and in mitochondrial fractions of livers taken from fed and fasted rats. Malonyl-CoA inhibited ketogenesis from the former but not from the latter substrate. The site of inhibition appeared to be the carnitine acyltransferase I reaction. The effect was specific and easily reversible. Inhibitory concentrations were in the range of values obtained in livers from fed rats by others. It is proposed that malonyl-CoA functions as both precursor for fatty acid synthesis and suppressor of fatty acid oxidation. As such, it might be an important element in the carbohydrate-induced sparing of fatty acid oxidation.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Hormonal control of ketogenesis. Biochemical considerations.

A two-site, bihormonal concept for the control of ketone body production is proposed. Thus, ketosis is viewed as the result of increased mobilization of free fatty acids from adipose tissue (site 1) to the liver (site 2), coupled with simultaneous enhancement of the liver's capacity to convert these substrates into acetoacetic and beta-hydroxybutyric acids. The former event is believed to be triggered by a fall in plasma insulin levels while the latter is considered to be effected primarily by the concomitant glucagon excess characteristic of the ketotic state. Although the precise mechanism whereby elevation of the circulating [glucagon]:[insulin] ratio stimulates hepatic ketogenic potential is not known, activation of the carnitine acyltransferase reaction, the first step in the oxidation of fatty acids, is an essential feature. Two prerequisites for this metabolic adaptation in liver appear to be an elevation in its carnitine content and depletion of its glycogen stores. Despite present limitations the model (evolved mainly from rat studies) provides a framework for the description of various types of clinical ketosis in biochemical terms and may be useful for future studies.

Acetoacetates↗
PubMed1976

Maternal-fetal carnitine relationship and neonatal ketosis in the rat.

The concentration of ketone bodies in plasma and of carnitine in various maternal, fetal, and neonatal tissues was examined during the developmental period in rats. Plasma ketone levels were low in the fetus, increased 10-fold during the first 24 h postpartom, and thereafter gradually declined such that normal values were found at the end of the suckling period. An almost identical profile was observed for liver carnitine concentrations in the baby rats. The converse was true for heart tissue, the carnitine content of which was low at birth and steadily increased to adult levels with the time of suckling. The primary source of carnitine in neonatal tissues, at least during the first 2 to 3 days postpartum, was shown to be the mother rat whose liver and milk carnitine content was very high at this time and fell as nursing continued. Experiments in which the fate of [14C]butyrobetaine, the immediate precursor of carnitine, was followed after injection into nursing mother rats indicated movement of carnitine from maternal liver leads to maternal plasma leads to milk leads to neonatal tissues. The above findings support the view expressed earlier that one prerequisite for the development of a high ketogenic profile in liver may be an elevation in the tissue carnitine concentration. Additional factors, however, are clearly involved as evidenced by the observation that in the fed state perfused livers from nursing mother rats synthesized ketone bodies from oleic acid at low rates compared with those seen after a 24 h fast, despite the fact that tissue carnitine levels were equally elevated in both groups. This paradox is likely related to the fact that in the fed state such livers also contained large quantities of glycogen, depletion of which through fasting was accompanied by marked acceleration of ketogenesis from oleate. The data indicate, therefore, that maximal ketogenic capacity of the liver requires for its induction an increase in carnitine coupled with a decrease in glycogen content of the tissue.

Acidosis↗