Rat epididymal adipose tissue was incubated in sera from diabetics and patients with cirrhosis of the liver in conditions with 60 and 600μU/m
l of added insulin as well as without added insulin, and the incorporation of
14C from I-
14C acetate into both whole and individual fatty acids was compared with those found in normal human serum and Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer.
The results were as follows:
1) The incorporation of
14C from I-
14C acetate into whole fatty acids of adipose tissue in each serum was inhibited as compared with that in buffer; moreover, the synthesis of fatty acids was low in the sera from diabetics and particularly in the patients with cirrhosis of the liver in conditions with less than 60μU/m
l of added insulin as compared with those found in the normal human serum. On the other hand, the synthesis of whole fatty acids in every serum was inhibited by more than 20% as compared with that found in buffer in cases with 600μU/m
l of added insulin.
2) The percentage of recovered cpm incorporated into discrete fatty acids showed some differences in these sera as compared to the values in buffer. The percentages of recovered cpm in 14: 0 and 16: 1 in every serum were lower than those found in buffer independently of added insulin concentration, however, the percentage in both sera from diabetics and patients with cirrhosis of the liver showed some inhibition as compared to values found in normal serum under conditions with added insulin.
The percentage of recovered cpm in 16: 0 in every serum showed increase of more than 20%, and about 10% in conditions without added insulin and with 60μU/m
l of added insulin, as compared to the values in buffer, respectively. However, the percentage of 16: 0 in each serum decreased to the nearly same value as in the buffer in the presence of 600μU/m
l of added insulin. Besides, the percentage distribution of 16: 0 in the sera from diabetics and patients with cirrhosis of the liver was lower than those found in the normal human serum under conditions with less than 60μU/m
l of added insulin. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the change in the synthesis of 16: 0 quantitatively reflects most strikingly the change found in the formation of whole fatty acids, because
14C in this fatty acid accounts for 50-64% of total labeled fatty acids.
Tne percentage of recovered cpm in 18: 0 in each serum increased by 20-45% independently of added insulin concentration compared with the value in buffer, and in addition, no special differences were found among sera.
The percentage of recovered cpm in 18: 1 in every serum increased by 10-20% as compared to the value in buffer in conditions with less than 60μU/m
l of added insulin, but remarkable inhibition was found in the presence of 600μU/m
l of added insulin, and the inhibition was stronger in the sera from diabetics and patients with cirrhosis of the liver than in the sera from normal subjects.
On the other hand, the synthesis of fatty acids with retention time corresponding. to 20: 0 or longer showed a compensatory relative increase for the depressed formation of 16: 0 or 18: 1 in every serum with 600μU/m
l of added insulin.
From these results, the depressed synthesis of 16: 0 and 18: 1 in each serum, particularly in the sera from patients with diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver, was considered to be responsible for the inhibition of insulin effect by these sera.
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