Glucose-stimulated lipolysis in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, liver

Rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, were used to characterize further the influence of glucose on hepatic lipolysis. Liver was removed from fed fish, cut into 1 mm³ pieces and incubated for up to 5 h in Hanks medium containing either 2 mM, 5.5 mM, 10 mM, or 25 mM glucose. Glucose-stimulated lipolysis was indicated by tissue triacylglycerol (TG) lipase activity and by medium concentrations of glycerol and fatty acids (FA). Triacylglycerol lipase activity in liver pieces incubated in the presence of higher concentrations (25 mM) of glucose was significantly higher than that in liver pieces incubated in lower concentrations (2 mM) of glucose, rising from 0.075 ± 0.002 (mean ± SEM) nmol FA released/h/mg protein to 0.092 ± 0.004 units. Similarly, higher concentrations of glucose stimulated significantly more FA release and glycerol release from liver pieces than that stimulated by lower concentrations of glucose. Glycerol release from liver pieces incubated in the presence of 10 mM glucose and 25 mM glucose was ca. 2-fold to 2.8-fold, respectively, higher than that from liver pieces incubated in the presence of either 2 mM or 5.5 mM glucose. Fatty acid release from liver pieces incubated in the presence of 10 mM or 25 mM glucose was ca. 1.8-fold higher than that from liver pieces incubated in the presence of either 2 mM or 5.5 mM glucose. Notably, increased glycerol release was not accompanied by a parallel increase in FA. Fatty acid reesterification was more pronounced in liver pieces exposed to higher glucose (10 mM and 25 mM) than in liver pieces exposed to lower glucose (2 mM and 5.5 mM). ¹⁴C-incorporation studies indicated that glucose serves as a carbon source for reesterified FA in trout liver. The route of reesterification appears to be from glucose to glycerophosphate to phosphatidic acid to diacylglycerol to TG. Increasing concentrations of glucose did not affect glycerol kinase activity, indicating that glucose-stimulated lipolysis was not accompanied by increased glycerol recycling within the liver. These results suggest that glucose stimulates fatty acid reesterification and directly enhances net lipolysis in trout liver incubated in vitro.