Obesity increases preeclampsia risk, and maternal dyslipidemia may result from exaggerated adipocyte lipolysis. We compared adipocyte function in preeclampsia with healthy pregnancy to establish whether there is increased lipolysis. Subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue biopsies were collected at caesarean section from healthy (n=31) and preeclampsia (n=13) mothers. Lipolysis in response to ...

Porcine adipose tissue glucose metabolism and lipolytic rates have been measured for many years by numerous investigators. However, there is little or no documented indication of the effects of variation in tissue handling procedures or variations in incubation medium components on metabolic rates. We have systematically varied conditions to provide such documentation for these much used techni...

Arsenic in drinking water promotes a number of diseases that may stem from dysfunctional adipose lipid and glucose metabolism. Arsenic inhibits adipocyte differentiation and promotes insulin resistance; however, little is known of the impacts of and mechanisms for arsenic effects on adipose lipid storage and lipolysis. Based on our earlier studies of arsenic-signaling mechanisms for vascular re...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether hyperinsulinemia modifies adrenergic control of lipolysis, with particular attention paid to the involvement of antilipolytic alpha2-adrenergic receptors (AR). Eight healthy male subjects (age: 23.9 +/- 0.9 yr; body mass index: 23.8 +/- 1.9) were investigated during a 6-h euglycemichyperinsulinemic clamp and in control conditions. Before and duri...

Lipid droplets (LDs) are a conserved feature of most organisms. Vertebrate adipocytes have evolved to efficiently store and release lipids for the whole organism from a single droplet. Perilipin 1, the most abundant lipid-coat protein in adipocytes, plays a key role in regulating lipolysis. In other tissues such as liver and muscle, LDs serve very different biological functions, buffering surpl...

Norepinephrine (NE) released from the sympathetic nerves innervating white adipose tissue (WAT) is the principal initiator of lipolysis in mammals. Central WAT sympathetic outflow neurons express melanocortin 4-receptor (MC4-R) mRNA. Single central injection of melanotan II (MTII; MC3/4-R agonist) nonuniformly increases WAT NE turnover (NETO), increases interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT)...

Postprandial lipemia is characterized by a transient increase in circulating triglyceride-rich lipoproteins such as very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and has been shown to activate monocytes in vivo. Lipolysis of VLDL releases remnant particles, phospholipids, monoglycerides, diglycerides, and fatty acids in close proximity to endothelial cells and monocytes. We hypothesized that postprandial...

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) affects glucose uptake in adipocytes and may play an important role in adipose physiology. One of the principal functions of adipose tissue is the provision of energy substrate through lipolysis. In the present study, we investigated the effects of ET-1 on lipolysis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. When glycerol release in the culture medium was measured as an index of lipolysis, the r...