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Metabolic adaptations in the adipose tissue that underlie the body fat mass gain in middle-aged rats

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Abstract

Little is known about adipocyte metabolism during aging process and whether this can influence body fat redistribution and systemic metabolism. To better understand this phenomenon, two animal groups were studied: young—14 weeks old—and middle-aged—16 months old. Periepididymal (PE) and subcutaneous (SC) adipocytes were isolated and tested for their capacities to perform lipolysis and to incorporate D-[U-14C]-glucose, D-[U-14C]-lactate, and [9,10(n)-3H]-oleic acid into lipids. Additionally, the morphometric characteristics of the adipose tissues, glucose tolerance tests, and biochemical determinations (fasting glucose, triglycerides, insulin) in blood were performed. The middle-aged rats showed adipocyte (PE and SC) hypertrophy and glucose intolerance, although there were no significant changes in fasting glycemia and insulin. Furthermore, PE tissue revealed elevated rates (+50 %) of lipolysis during beta-adrenergic-stimulation. There was also an increase (+62 %) in the baseline rate of glucose incorporation into lipids in the PE adipocytes, while these PE cells were almost unresponsive to insulin stimulation and less responsive (a 34 % decrease) in the SC tissue. Also, the capacity of oleic acid esterification was elevated in baseline state and with insulin stimulus in the PE tissue (+90 and 82 %, respectively). Likewise, spontaneous incorporation of lactate into lipids in the PE and SC tissues was higher (+100 and 11 %, respectively) in middle-aged rats. We concluded that adipocyte metabolism of middle-aged animals seems to strongly favor cellular hypertrophy and increased adipose mass, particularly the intra-abdominal PE fat pad. In discussion, we have interpreted all these results as a metabolic adaptations to avoid the spreading of fat that can reach tissues beyond adipose protecting them against ectopic fat accumulation. However, these adaptations may have the potential to lead to future metabolic dysfunctions seen in the senescence.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Process 14/15210-3).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

      Rogério Antonio Laurato Sertié, Rennan de Oliveira Caminhotto, Sandra Andreotti, Amanda Baron Campaña, Natalie Carolina de Castro & Fábio Bessa Lima

    2. Laboratory of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Campinas, Limeira, SP, Brazil

      André Ricardo Gomes de Proença

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    1. Rogério Antonio Laurato Sertié
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    2. Rennan de Oliveira Caminhotto
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    3. Sandra Andreotti
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    4. Amanda Baron Campaña
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    5. André Ricardo Gomes de Proença
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    6. Natalie Carolina de Castro
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    7. Fábio Bessa Lima
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    Correspondence to Rogério Antonio Laurato Sertié or Rennan de Oliveira Caminhotto.

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    Rogério Antonio Laurato Sertié and Rennan de Oliveira Caminhotto contributed equally to this work.

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    Sertié, R.A.L., Caminhotto, R.d.O., Andreotti, S. et al. Metabolic adaptations in the adipose tissue that underlie the body fat mass gain in middle-aged rats. AGE 37, 87 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-015-9826-5

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-015-9826-5

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