A Case of Mistaken Identity

2005 ◽  
Vol 288 (1) ◽  
pp. H448-H448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Stahl

The heart is a unique organ that can use several fuels for energy production. During development, the heart undergoes changes in fuel supply, and it must be able to respond to these changes. We have examined changes in the expression of several genes that regulate fuel transport and metabolism in rat hearts during early development. At birth, there was increased expression of fatty acid transporters and enzymes of fatty acid metabolism that allow fatty acids to become the major source of energy for cardiac muscle during the first 2 wk of life. At the same time, expression of genes that control glucose transport and oxidation was downregulated. After 2 wk, expression of genes for glucose uptake and oxidation was increased, and expression of genes for fatty acid uptake and utilization was decreased. Expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) isoforms during development was different from published data obtained from rabbit hearts. CPT Iα and Iβ isoforms were both highly expressed in hearts before birth, and both increased further at birth. Only after the second week did CPT Iα expression decrease appreciably below the level of CPT Iβ expression. These results represent another example of different expression patterns of CPT I isoforms among various mammalian species. In rats, changes in gene expression followed nutrient availability during development and may render cardiac fatty acid oxidation less sensitive to factors that influence malonyl-CoA content (e.g., fluctuations in glucose concentration) and thereby favor fatty acid oxidation as an energy source for cardiomyocytes in early development.

2004 ◽  
Vol 287 (5) ◽  
pp. H2035-H2042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduard N. Lavrentyev ◽  
Daifen He ◽  
George A. Cook

The heart is a unique organ that can use several fuels for energy production. During development, the heart undergoes changes in fuel supply, and it must be able to respond to these changes. We have examined changes in the expression of several genes that regulate fuel transport and metabolism in rat hearts during early development. At birth, there was increased expression of fatty acid transporters and enzymes of fatty acid metabolism that allow fatty acids to become the major source of energy for cardiac muscle during the first 2 wk of life. At the same time, expression of genes that control glucose transport and oxidation was downregulated. After 2 wk, expression of genes for glucose uptake and oxidation was increased, and expression of genes for fatty acid uptake and utilization was decreased. Expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) isoforms during development was different from published data obtained from rabbit hearts. CPT Iα and Iβ isoforms were both highly expressed in hearts before birth, and both increased further at birth. Only after the second week did CPT Iα expression decrease appreciably below the level of CPT Iβ expression. These results represent another example of different expression patterns of CPT I isoforms among various mammalian species. In rats, changes in gene expression followed nutrient availability during development and may render cardiac fatty acid oxidation less sensitive to factors that influence malonyl-CoA content (e.g., fluctuations in glucose concentration) and thereby favor fatty acid oxidation as an energy source for cardiomyocytes in early development.


2016 ◽  
Vol 119 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Shao ◽  
Nathan Roe ◽  
Loreta D Tomasi ◽  
Alyssa N Braun ◽  
Ana Mattos ◽  
...  

In the obese and diabetic heart, an imbalance between fatty acid uptake and fatty acid oxidation (FAO) promotes the development of cardiac lipotoxicity. We previously showed that cardiac specific deletion of acetyl CoA carboxylase 2 (ACC2) was effective in increasing myocardial FAO while maintaining normal cardiac function and energetics. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that ACC2 deletion in an adult heart would prevent the cardiac lipotoxic phenotype in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. ACC2 flox/flox (CON) and ACC2 flox/flox-MerCreMer+ (iKO) after tamoxifen injection were subjected to a high fat diet (HFD) for 24 weeks. HFD induced similar body weight gain and glucose intolerance in CON and iKO. In isolated Langendorff-perfused heart experiments, HFD feeding increased FAO 1.6-fold in CON mice which was increased to 2.5-fold in iKO mice compared with CON on chow diet. Fractional shortening was significantly decreased in CON-HFD (32.8±2.8% vs. 39.2±3.2%, p< 0.05, n=5-6), but preserved in iKO-HFD mice (42.8±2.3%, vs. 38.5±1.4%, n=6), compared to respective chow fed controls. Diastolic function, assessed by E’/A’ ratio using tissue Doppler imaging, was significantly decreased in CON-HFD mice (1.11±0.08 vs. 0.91±0.09, p<0.05 n=5-6), while no difference was observed in iKO-HFD compared to iKO-chow (1.10±0.03 vs. 1.09±0.04, n=6). Heart weight /Tibia length ratio was significantly higher in CON than iKO mice after HFD feeding (7.19±0.22 vs. 6.47±0.28, p<0.05, n=6). Furthermore, HFD induced mitochondria super complex II, III and V instability, which was attenuated in iKO-HFD mice. These data indicate that elevated myocardial FAO per se does not cause the development of cardiac dysfunction in obese animals. In fact, enhancing FAO via ACC2 deletion prevents HFD induced cardiac dysfunction and attenuates pathological hypertrophy. These effects may be mediated, in part, by maintenance of mitochondrial integrity. Taken together, our findings suggest that promoting cardiac FAO is an effective strategy to resist the development of cardiac lipotoxicity during diet-induced obesity.


1996 ◽  
Vol 318 (3) ◽  
pp. 767-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley DRYNAN ◽  
Patti A. QUANT ◽  
Victor A. ZAMMIT

The relationships between the increase in blood ketone-body concentrations and several parameters that can potentially influence the rate of hepatic fatty acid oxidation were studied during progressive starvation (up to 24 h) in the rat in order to discover whether the sensitivity of mitochondrial overt carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT I) to malonyl-CoA plays an important part in determining the intrahepatic potential for fatty acid oxidation during the onset of ketogenic conditions. A rapid increase in blood ketone-body concentration occurred between 12 and 16 h of starvation, several hours after the marked fall in hepatic malonyl-CoA and in serum insulin concentrations and doubling of plasma non-esterfied fatty acid (NEFA) concentration. Consequently, both the changes in hepatic malonyl-CoA and serum NEFA preceded the increase in blood ketone-body concentration by several hours. The maximal activity of CPT I increased gradually throughout the 24 h period of starvation, but the increases did not become significant before 18 h of starvation. By contrast, the sensitivity of CPT I to malonyl-CoA and the increase in blood ketone-body concentration followed an identical time course, demonstrating the central importance of this parameter in determining the ketogenic response of the liver to the onset of the starved state.


2004 ◽  
Vol 286 (3) ◽  
pp. E354-E362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Mittendorfer ◽  
David A. Fields ◽  
Samuel Klein

The effect of relative body fat mass on exercise-induced stimulation of lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation was evaluated in 15 untrained men (5 lean, 5 overweight, and 5 obese with body mass indexes of 21 ± 1, 27 ± 1, and 34 ± 1 kg/m2, respectively, and %body fat ranging from 12 to 32%). Palmitate and glycerol kinetics and substrate oxidation were assessed during 90 min of cycling at 50% peak aerobic capacity (V̇o2 peak) by use of stable isotope-labeled tracer infusion and indirect calorimetry. An inverse relationship was found between %body fat and exercise-induced increase in glycerol appearance rate relative to fat mass ( r2 = 0.74; P < 0.01). The increase in total fatty acid uptake during exercise [(μmol/kg fat-free mass) × 90 min] was ∼50% smaller in obese (181 ± 70; P < 0.05) and ∼35% smaller in overweight (230 ± 71; P < 0.05) than in lean (354 ± 34) men. The percentage of total fatty acid oxidation derived from systemic plasma fatty acids decreased with increasing body fat, from 49 ± 3% in lean to 39 ± 4% in obese men ( P < 0.05); conversely, the percentage of nonsystemic fatty acids, presumably derived from intramuscular and possibly plasma triglycerides, increased with increasing body fat ( P < 0.05). We conclude that the lipolytic response to exercise decreases with increasing adiposity. The blunted increase in lipolytic rate in overweight and obese men compared with lean men limits the availability of plasma fatty acids as a fuel during exercise. However, the rate of total fat oxidation was similar in all groups because of a compensatory increase in the oxidation of nonsystemic fatty acids.


1990 ◽  
Vol 269 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Prip-Buus ◽  
J P Pegorier ◽  
P H Duee ◽  
C Kohl ◽  
J Girard

The temporal changes in oleate oxidation, lipogenesis, malonyl-CoA concentration and sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT 1) to malonyl-CoA inhibition were studied in isolated rabbit hepatocytes and mitochondria as a function of time after birth of the animal or time in culture after exposure to glucagon, cyclic AMP or insulin. (1) Oleate oxidation was very low during the first 6 h after birth, whereas lipogenesis rate and malonyl-CoA concentration decreased rapidly during this period to reach levels as low as those found in 24-h-old newborns that show active oleate oxidation. (2) The changes in the activity of CPT I and the IC50 (concn. causing 50% inhibition) for malonyl-CoA paralleled those of oleate oxidation. (3) In cultured fetal hepatocytes, the addition of glucagon or cyclic AMP reproduced the changes that occur spontaneously after birth. A 12 h exposure to glucagon or cyclic AMP was sufficient to inhibit lipogenesis totally and to cause a decrease in malonyl-CoA concentration, but a 24 h exposure was required to induce oleate oxidation. (4) The induction of oleate oxidation by glucagon or cyclic AMP is triggered by the fall in the malonyl-CoA sensitivity of CPT I. (5) In cultured hepatocytes from 24 h-old newborns, the addition of insulin inhibits no more than 30% of the high oleate oxidation, whereas it stimulates lipogenesis and increases malonyl-CoA concentration by 4-fold more than in fetal cells (no oleate oxidation). This poor effect of insulin on oleate oxidation seems to be due to the inability of the hormone to increase the sensitivity of CPT I sufficiently. Altogether, these results suggest that the malonyl-CoA sensitivity of CPT I is the major site of regulation during the induction of fatty acid oxidation in the fetal rabbit liver.


Endocrinology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 149 (11) ◽  
pp. 5432-5439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Prieur ◽  
Y. C. Loraine Tung ◽  
Julian L. Griffin ◽  
I. Sadaf Farooqi ◽  
Stephen O'Rahilly ◽  
...  

The metabolic effects of leptin may involve both centrally and peripherally mediated actions with a component of the central actions potentially independent of alterations in food intake. Ob/ob mice have significant abnormalities in lipid metabolism, correctable by leptin administration. We used ob/ob mice to study the relative importance of the subtypes of actions of leptin (central vs. peripheral; food intake dependent vs. independent) on lipid metabolism. Mice were treated for 3 d with leptin, either centrally [intracerebroventricular (icv)] or peripherally (ip), and compared with mice pair-fed to the leptin-treated mice (PF) and with ad libitum-fed controls (C). All treatment groups (icv, ip, PF) showed indistinguishable changes in liver weight; hepatic steatosis; hepatic lipidemic profile; and circulating free fatty acids, triglycerides, and cholesterol lipoprotein profile. Changes in the expression of genes involved in lipogenesis and fatty acid oxidation in liver, muscle, and white fat were broadly similar in ip, icv, and PF groups. Leptin (both icv and ip) stimulated expression of both mitochondrial and peroxisomal acyl-coenzyme A oxidase (liver) and peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor-α (skeletal muscle) to an extent not replicated by pair feeding. Leptin had profound effects on peripheral lipid metabolism, but the majority were explained by its effects on food intake. Leptin had additional centrally mediated effects to increase the expression of a limited number of genes concerned with fatty acid oxidation. Whereas we cannot exclude direct peripheral effects of leptin on certain aspects of lipid metabolism, we were unable to detect any such effects on the parameters measured in this study.


Author(s):  
Dan Wei ◽  
Shaofei Wu ◽  
Jie Liu ◽  
Xiaoqian Zhang ◽  
Xiaoling Guan ◽  
...  

Theobromine, a methylxanthine present in cocoa, has been shown to possess many beneficial pharmacological properties such as anti-oxidative stress, anti-inflammatory property, and anti-microbial activity. In this study, we investigated the effects of theobromine on NAFLD and the possible underlying mechanisms in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that theobromine reduced body weight, fat mass and improved dyslipidemia. Theobromine decreased liver weight, mitigated liver injury, and significantly reduced hepatic TG level in mice with obesity. Histological examinations also showed hepatic steatosis was alleviated after theobromine treatment. Furthermore, theobromine reversed the elevated mRNA and protein expression of SREBP-1c, FASN, CD36, FABP4 and the suppressed expression of PPARα, CPT1a in the liver of mice with obesity, which were responsible for lipogenesis, fatty acid uptake and fatty acid oxidation respectively. In vitro, theobromine also downregulated SREBP-1c, FASN, CD36, FABP4 and upregulated PPARα, CPT1a mRNA and protein levels in hepatocytes in a dose-dependent manner, while these changes were reversed by L-Leucine, an mTOR agonist. The present study demonstrated that theobromine improved NAFLD by inhibiting lipogenesis, fatty acid uptake and promoting fatty acid oxidation in the liver and hepatocytes, which might be associated with its suppression of mTOR signaling pathway.


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