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ABSTRACT
The presence and production of 5-ene-steroid fatty acid esters (SFA) has been previously reported in bovine adrenals. A study was conducted, using a series of chromatographic procedures and radioimmunoassays, to determine the levels of SFA in adrenals from man, cattle, dog, rat and guinea-pig, and to assess, in both rats and guinea-pigs, the effect of ACTH on SFA production by adrenals and their subsequent secretion into the circulation. The effects of ACTH on plasma SFA and non-conjugated steroid levels were also investigated in human subjects. Our data indicated that adrenal pregnenolone fatty acid ester (PREG-FA) levels were below 40% of PREG levels in cattle, dog, rat and guinea-pig while, in man, PREG-FA levels were threefold those of PREG. A large proportion of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and 5-androstene-3β,17β-diol were present as fatty acid ester derivatives in the adrenals of all species, with the exception of cattle. In both rats and guineapigs, administration of ACTH caused a sharp increase in adrenal PREG of approximately threefold which lasted for 6 h, while the concentration of adrenal PREG-FA was slightly increased for a short time. In plasma, however, a marked rise in PREG-FA occurred, while the changes in PREG levels were much lower than those of its acylated counterpart. In man, PREG and DHEA concentrations were rapidly stimulated two-fold in the first 30 min following the administration of ACTH, while PREG-FA and DHEA-FA levels were increased by approximately 2·5-fold (P<0·01) at 120 and 180 min. Our data suggest that there is a rapid turnover of SFA in adrenals which causes accumulation of non-polar steroids in the plasma.
Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 127, 505–511
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ABSTRACT
Explants of mammary glands from 60-day pregnant goats showed a mean fourfold increase in fatty acid synthesis from acetate when cultured with insulin+ cortisol. Epithelial cells increased their area by 60% but no secretory activity was induced. In 120-day pregnant goats, fatty acid synthesis and epithelial cell area were greater than at day 60 of pregnancy and were unaffected by hypophysectomy or by daily treatment with bromocriptine from day 60. Neither increased further on culture of mammary explants in insulin + cortisol.
Ovine prolactin increased fatty acid synthesis two-fold when added to insulin + cortisol in cultures of mammary tissue from goats on day 60 of pregnancy and secretory activity was induced. On day 120 of pregnancy insulin + cortisol + prolactin sustained or slightly stimulated both fatty acid synthesis and the extensive secretion present in the tissue at the start of culture. Synthesis of medium-chain fatty acids of milk-fat was also sustained by prolactin in one goat.
An atmosphere of air was found to maintain normal histological structure of the mammary gland. By contrast, in 95% oxygen, explants from goats which were 60 days pregnant showed epithelial cells filling the lumina of ducts and alveoli in 60% of explants and a poor response to prolactin.
J. Endocr. (1984) 100, 87–92
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This study was designed to determine the effect of menopause and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on plasma cholesteryl ester fatty acid (CEFA) composition and insulin sensitivity and the relationships between these variables in perimenopausal women (aged 40-55 years) including 49 who were premenopausal and 32 who were postmenopausal. Plasma cholesteryl ester proportions of dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (20:3 n-6) were correlated significantly with insulin sensitivity index (r=-0.319, P=0.005), fasting serum insulin levels (r=0.230, P=0.038), body mass index (r=0.242, P=0.03) and per cent body fat (r=0.329, P=0.003) in perimenopausal women (n=81). Similar associations were observed in premenopausal women. Regression analysis suggested the relationships between 20:3 n-6 proportions and indices of insulin action may be partly mediated by levels of adiposity. In postmenopausal women, 6 months of HRT significantly (P=0.008) increased the ratio of arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6) to linoleic acid (18:2 n-6), which is an indicator of activity in the pathway of 20:4 n-6 synthesis, compared with placebo. These findings suggest that the type of fat in the diet indicated by plasma CEFA composition is linked to adiposity and insulin action. They also suggest that in postmenopausal women, HRT may increase the synthesis of 20:4 n-6, which is the precursor for eicosanoids with important cardiovascular functions.
Search for other papers by G. S. G. SPENCER in
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Somatomedin activity, cortisol and free fatty acids have been measured in the plasma of eight Pietrain pigs at various times after stress. Somatomedin activity decreased immediately, reached a minimum after 15 min and remained low throughout a 3·5 h period. Cortisol levels rose to a peak after 15 min and regained normal levels after 60 min. Free fatty acid levels increased to a peak level about 3 h after stress.
The possibility of inhibitors of the bioassay for somatomedin activity influencing the results are discussed.
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ABSTRACT
To elucidate the hypolipacidaemic effect of insulin in ducks, its action on the uptake of free fatty acids (FFA) by duck hepatocytes was determined. At low doses (10 mu./l) insulin stimulated FFA uptake. This effect was not observed with higher doses of insulin (20, 30 and 50 mu./l). Growth hormone at physiological concentrations and corticosterone (14·4 nmol/l) decreased basal activity, probably by reducing glucose metabolism and consequently α-glycerophosphate (α-GP) supply. Insulin was able to reverse the inhibition induced by GH and corticosterone on both FFA uptake and α-GP production. These results therefore suggest that the hypolipacidaemic effect of insulin may be partly mediated by its action on hepatic FFA uptake.
J. Endocr. (1984) 102, 381–386
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SUMMARY
Plasma non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) levels during a standard insulin sensitivity test have been compared in hypopituitary and hospital control patients who had undergone full routine pituitary investigations. Significant impairment of the recovery of plasma NEFA levels after insulin injection was found in the hypopituitary group as a whole, but this finding was not consistent in individual cases. It is concluded that the measurement of NEFA levels is of little value in the diagnosis of mild hypopituitarism. Blood sugar levels after insulin were of no value in the diagnosis of minor degrees of hypopituitarism.
In 19 patients with mild hypopituitarism the order of frequency of deficiency of individual hormones, as judged by tests currently available, was gonadotrophins followed by growth hormone, adrenocorticotrophic hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and antidiuretic hormone.
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Abstract
In addition to dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) sulfate (S), the human plasma also contains a second form of DHEA ester: DHEA-fatty acid esters (DHEA-FA). In the human adult, the plasma concentrations of DHEA-FA, DHEA and DHEAS are in the range of 6, 12 and 2000 nm respectively. Although the adrenal is responsible for almost all production of DHEAS in the circulation, DHEA-FA is formed from DHEA by an enzyme present in the circulation. Our work has clearly demonstrated that lecithincholesterol acyltransferase, localized on high density lipoprotein, is responsible for DHEA-FA production. Once DHEA-FA is formed, it is subsequently transferred to very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL), like cholesteryl esters. Plasma lipoproteins contain at least 90% of circulating DHEA-FA of which 40% are found in the LDL fraction. Analysis of the fatty acid composition of tritiated DHEA-FA-labelled LDL ([3H]DHEA-FA-LDL) indicated the prevalence of DHEA-linoleate/palmitoleate and DHEA-oleate. Treatment of [3 H]steroid-FA-LDL with charcoal does not remove radioactivity, thus suggesting that the non-polar steroid is incorporated into the central non-polar core of the lipoproteins. Incubation of [3H]DHEA-FA-LDL with ZR-75–1 breast cancer cells produced a time-dependent increase in labeled non-conjugated steroids in the cell culture medium, whereas the levels of tritiated DHEA-FA decreased. Lipoidal radioactivity in cells increased with time, but non-conjugated radioactivity associated with the cells showed no such increase. HPLC analysis of the culture medium indicated the presence of tritiated DHEA and androst-5-ene-3β, 17β-diol. Our study indicates that circulating DHEA-FA incorporated into lipoproteins may indeed act as a substrate for potent steroid formation following their entry into steroid target cells.
Journal of Endocrinology (1996) 150, S119–S124
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SUMMARY
Recently changes in plasma free fatty acids have been suggested as a possible regulator of the levels of free thyroxine in the plasma. Oleic acid has been shown to displace tri-iodothyronine from human serum, human serum albumin, rat serum, rabbit serum and guinea-pig serum. The extent of the displacement, much greater from human serum albumin than from whole serum, suggests that free fatty acid does not affect the globulin binding site. It would also appear that, in the rat, all the binding sites are sensitive to free fatty acids and hence there is probably only albumin binding in this species. The results with rabbit and guinea-pig serum were intermediate to those with human and rat serum. A significant rise in resin uptake of tri-iodothyronine in vitro occurred with an increase of free fatty acid level of 0·5 m-equiv./l., well within the physiological range.
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ABSTRACT
The effect of gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), glucagon-like peptide-1(7–36) amide, (GLP-1(7–36) amide), glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), glucagon and insulin on fatty acid synthesis in explants of rat adipose tissue from various sites was investigated. GIP, GLP-1(7–36) amide and insulin stimulated fatty acid synthesis, as determined by measuring the incorporation of [14C]acetate into saponifiable fat, in a dose-dependent manner, over the concentration range 5–15 ng/ml (0·87–2·61 nmol/l) for insulin and 0·5–7·5 ng/ml for GIP (0·10–1·50 nmol/l) and GLP-1(7–36) amide (0·15–2·27 nmol/l). Insulin and GIP caused a significantly greater stimulation of [14C]acetate incorporation into fatty acids in omental adipose tissue than in either epididymal or subcutaneous adipose tissue. Both GIP and GLP-1(7–36) amide had the ability to stimulate fatty acid synthesis within the physiological range of the circulating hormones. At lower concentrations of the hormones, GLP-1(7–36) amide was a more potent stimulator of fatty acid synthesis than GIP in omental adipose tissue culture; the basal rate of fatty acid synthesis was 0·41±0·03 pmol acetate incorporated/mg wet weight tissue per 2 h; at 0·10 nmol hormone/l 1·15±0·10 and 3·40±0·12 pmol acetate incorporated/mg wet weight tissue per 2 h for GIP and GLP-1(7–36) amide respectively (P < 0·01). GLP-2 and glucagon were without effect on fatty acid synthesis in omental adipose tissue. The study indicates that GIP and GLP-1(7–36) amide, in addition to stimulating insulin secretion, may play a direct physiological role in vivo, in common with insulin, in promoting fatty acid synthesis in adipose tissue.
Journal of Endocrinology (1991) 130, 267–272
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SUMMARY
The quantity of free fatty acids (FFA) released from rat epididymal fat pads in vitro and their concentration within the tissue were determined. The addition of adrenaline, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and growth hormone (GH) each increased the release of FFA, and their respective minimum effective concentrations were 0·125, 0·004, 0·5 and 1·25 μg./ml. of medium. In every case, the increased release of FFA was associated with a rise in the quantity present within the pads, and the amount released closely paralleled their concentration within the tissue.
It is suggested that the stimulatory effect of all four hormones on the release of FFA from adipose tissue is largely a manifestation of their activity of increasing the concentration of FFA within the cells, and this they do by facilitating the net conversion of storage triglyceride to fatty acid. The significance of the relative activities of the hormones in vitro is discussed and compared with their fatty acid mobilizing effects in vivo.
