Dietary and species influence on potential of plasma to stimulate differentiation and lipid accumulation in cultured adipocyte precursors.

Sera and plasma from different species and from rats of various dietary statuses were compared with regard to effects on proliferation, glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity, and lipid-filing of rat adipocyte precursors converting to adipocytes in primary cell culture. All of the tested sera and plasma samples were comparably supportive of cell multiplication, but their effects on elevation of GPDH activity (a key event in adipocyte differentiation) and lipid-filling varied greatly. Plasma supported a much greater increase in GPDH activity than serum, while serum from cats supported a much lower increase than serum from humans, calves, goats, or rats. Dietary status of rats did not affect the potential of plasma to support GPDH activity, but did affect plasma support of lipid-filing. A higher than normal degree of lipid-filling was promoted by plasma from rats fed a high-fat, high-sugar diet, while a lower than normal degree was promoted by plasma from fasted rats. Lipid-filling was also found to vary in response to changes in content of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) in human plasma. This suggests that the influence of diet on the potential of plasma to promote adipocyte lipid-filling may be mediated by the effect of diet on plasma VLDL. The absence of a diet-dependent effect of plasma either on multiplication of adipocyte precursors or on degree of elevation of GPDH activity leaves unresolved the mechanism by which diet affects adipocyte production in animals.