Starvation causes insulin resistance which is partly due to decrease of insulin action on glucose transport in target cells. Preliminary data from other authors suggest that starvation is associated with an increase of the time necessary for insulin to exert its maximum effect on glucose transport. In order to verify this finding, 3-O-methylglucose (3OMG) transport was studied in isolated rat adipocytes from starved and fed rats. The total intracellular space for 3OMG was not modified by 48h starvation. After 48h starvation, 3OMG transport into fat cells was less responsive to maximum insulin concentration than in controls: 33 +/- 2% (controls) vs 23 +/- 4% (starved) of total glucose space, p less than 0.05; the sensitivity to insulin was normal or even increased in comparison to controls: 50% of maximum effect was reached at 42 microU/ml insulin in controls and at 26 microU/ml insulin in starved animals. We could not find any effect of starvation on the time-response curves of insulin action.

3-O-Methylglucose↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Glucose tolerance and blood lipids in bran-fed patients with impaired glucose tolerance.

Thirty-eight patients (13 men and 25 women) with impaired glucose tolerance, aged 33--70 yr, underwent a dietary program adding 20 g of raw bran to their usual diet without changing their dietary habits. After 1 mo of treatment, the areas under the curves for glucose and insulin were reduced from 26,214 +/- 5618 to 24,529 +/- 5207 g/min (P < 0.001) and from 15,893 +/- 9714 to 12,440 +/- 7377 mU/min (P < 0.001), respectively, cholesterol was reduced from 234 +/- 40 to 212 +/- 29 mg/dl (P < 0.001), and triglycerides were reduced from 108 +/- 56 to 97 +/- 50 mg/dl (P < 0.05). Body weight (initially 128.44% relative body weight) decrease 0.8% (P < 0.02). After the first month, 14 subjects were studied for a further 2 mo. Six patients continued bran feeding, and eight, who stopped bran, were used as controls. Patients who took bran maintained metabolic improvement over the 3-mo treatment period, while those who stopped bran did not.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Ultrastructural features of cultured mature adipocyte precursors from adipose tissue in multiple symmetric lipomatosis.

The pathogenesis of multiple symmetric lipomatosis (MSL) is as yet unknown; however, some studies seem to indicate the neoplastic nature of this lesion. In this study we have examined the ultrastructural features of the adipocyte precursors of patients with MSL. The cells were isolated by collagenase, cultured, and then examined at the moment of their confluence in a monolayer. Their ultrastructural features were compared with those of cells of the abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue taken from patients with nonsystemic, surgically treated illnesses. When examined immediately after isolation, the cells from normal tissue did not show significant differences from MSL cells. In culture, however, MSL grew more quickly into a monolayer and showed numerous nuclear pockets and cytoplasmic microfilaments, which were not seen in cells from normal tissue. These differences appear compatible with the neoplastic nature of the MSL adipocyte precursors.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Value of echography in the measurement of changes in the total and visceral adipose mass].

Various methods to assess lean and fat body masses and abdominal-visceral adipose tissue were compared in 26 obese women on extremely hypocaloric diets. The following anthropometric parameters were measured before and after 15 days of extreme calorie restriction: arm circumference (A), waist circumference (W), hip circumference (H) and thigh circumference (T); W/H, W/T, A/H and A/T ratios; subcutaneous biceps , triceps , subscapular, abdominal and thigh folds; echographic thickness of abdominal muscle-aorta; area of visceral (VAT), total (AT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue measured using computed tomography, lean and fat body masses assessed by impedance measurement. Under standard conditions it was shown that echography, like impedance measurement, was the most useful method for assessing lean and fat body masses in obese subjects, whereas plicometry was not found reliable. On extremely hypocaloric diets, echography is able to assess the variations of lean and fat body masses, whereas impedance measurement overestimated the lean body mass. Localisation indexes of visceral fat based on body circumferences were shown not to be suitable for the evaluation of changes in visceral adipose tissue, at least when these were slight. Echography was also the most useful method to assess slight changes in visceral adipose tissue.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Italian Consensus Conference; overweight, obesity and health (ICC S.O.S. 1991)].

On April 5th and 6th 1991, at the National Research Council (CNR) in Rome, a Consensus Conference on the relationship between Overweight, Obesity and Health was held. The Conference was sponsored by FATMA (Applied Project on Disease Factors of the CNR) and UICO (Italian Society for the Study of Obesity) with the purpose of establishing guidelines for health employees. The development of the Conference followed the methodology set down by OMAR to obtain a rational and significant consensus on the answers to 6 basic questions prepared by the Planning Committee. The questions were the pivotal point of the Conference and were brought to the attention of all the attendees and widely diffused among the medical community; they were proposed with the aim of giving an exhaustive definition of obesity, to investigate its relationship with mortality and morbidity, to highlight its social characterization, to indicate methods of evaluation and recommendations for weight loss, to select groups at risk, and to focus general guidelines for research. After the presentation of the state of the art on 18 topics by experts in the field, the 22 members of the Consensus Panel, impartial experts from a vast area of the scientific community, discussed a draft document representing the answers to the questions, which was subsequently illustrated to the 307 attendees, discussed and then approved. This paper is the definitive document of the Consensus Conference. The introduction explains the reasons which led to the decision to promote the Conference six years after the one held in the United States. The methodology is then set out. The questions are answered in the form of recommendations and backed up by data and scientific demonstrations from the literature.

Adolescent↗