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Age-related changes in the response of rat adipocytes to insulin: evidence for a critical role for inositol phosphoglycans and cAMP

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Abstract

Adipose tissue plays a pivotal role in ageing and longevity; many studies, both human and animal, have focussed on the effects of food limitation. Here we present a new model based on striking differences between two ‘normal’ inbred strains of albino Wistar rats the Charles River (CR) and Harlan Olac (HO) that have marked differences in age-related accumulation of fat and insulin-stimulated rates of glucose incorporation into lipid in the epididymal fat pads (EFP). The incorporation [U-14C]glucose into lipid by adipocytes showed that the CR group had a twofold higher basal rate of lipogenesis and a greater response to insulin in vitro, exceptionally, adipocytes from CR group maintained the high response to insulin to late adulthood while retaining the lower EFP weight/100 g body weight. Inositol phosphoglycan A-type (IPG-A), a putative insulin second messenger, was 3.5-fold higher and cAMP significantly lower per EFP in the CR versus HO groups. Plasma insulin levels were similar and plasma leptin higher in CR versus HO groups. The anomaly of a higher rate of lipogenesis and response to insulin and lower EFP weight in the CR group is interpreted as the resultant effect of a faster turnover of lipid and stimulating effect of leptin in raising fatty acid oxidation by muscle, potentially key to the lower accumulation of visceral fat. The metabolic profile of the CR strain provides a template that could be central to therapies that may lead to the lowering of both adipose and non-adipocyte lipid accumulation in humans in ageing.

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Abbreviations

BSA:

Bovine serum albumin

CR:

Male albino Wistar rats, Charles River strain

EFP:

Epididymal fat pad

HO:

Male albino Wistar rats, Harlan Olac strain

IPG-A:

Inositol phosphoglycan A-type

IPG-P:

Inositol phosphoglycan P-type

PDC:

Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex

PDH:

Pyruvate dehydrogenase

PDK:

Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase

PDP:

Pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase

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Acknowledgment

We are grateful to Dr. Dennis Wang and Dr Khalid Elased for plasma hormone estimations. This work was in part supported by grants from the Medical Research Council and the Basil Samuel Charitable Trust and from the International Scientific Cooperation Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Medicine Unit, Department of Immunology and Molecular Pathology, University College London Medical School, The Windeyer Building, 46 Cleveland Street, London, W1T 4JF, UK

    Sirilaksana Kunjara, A. Leslie Greenbaum, Thomas W. Rademacher & Patricia McLean

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  1. Sirilaksana Kunjara
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  2. A. Leslie Greenbaum
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  3. Thomas W. Rademacher
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  4. Patricia McLean
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Correspondence to Patricia McLean.

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Kunjara, S., Greenbaum, A.L., Rademacher, T.W. et al. Age-related changes in the response of rat adipocytes to insulin: evidence for a critical role for inositol phosphoglycans and cAMP. Biogerontology 11, 483–493 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-010-9271-x

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